Vote Now for the Top Sports City of 2017

Lausanne, December 1, 2017 – Voting for the official ‘Sports City Poll 2017’ opens today.

Now in its sixth edition, the poll has gained international attention and become a much-anticipated annual event.

This year’s ‘Sports City Poll’ will remain open for one month, closing on December 31, 2017. The poll will provide a ranking of the top 50 cities worldwide most strongly associated with sport. Results will be announced in January 2018.

Vote now by clicking here!

Presented by Around the Rings and TSE Consulting, a Burson Marsteller Company, the poll includes only one measurement: cities perceived to have the strongest association with sport. Results are based on a public online vote. Those opinions will be coupled with an industry-weighted vote from sports experts comprised of 100 leaders across International Federations, National Olympic Committees, sports media and other influencers in the world of sport.

Respondents will chose from a list of 50 cities based on criteria such as staging recent and upcoming Olympic Games or other major multi-sport events, hosting professional teams, and organising major championships or world-class events such as tennis Grand Slams and Formula 1 races.

In 2016, London (GBR) remained the world’s leading sports city for a fourth consecutive year, followed closely by Rio de Janeiro (BRA) and Lausanne (SUI). Rounding out the top five finishers were Barcelona (ESP) and Paris (FRA).

With each edition of the poll, the three lowest ranked cities drop off the list, and the top three non-listed cities named by the survey respondents are added. The 2017 edition of the Ranking welcomes new cities, as chosen by last year’s voters: Kansas City (USA), PyeongChang (KOR) and Rotterdam (NED).

Ed Hula, Editor, Around the Rings says: "As we travel the world to cover major sports events, we can see that cities increasingly invest in the development of strong promotional campaigns to enhance their international presence and drive tourism revenues. This Ranking provides cities with a tremendous opportunity to see if their efforts are paying off! 2017 was another exciting year for sport cities and we look forward to the upcoming results. "

Lars Haue-Pedersen, Managing Director, TSE Consulting, says: "The Ranking of Sports Cities is a very interesting and attractive tool for the industry as it is based on the perception and impression from the public and sports experts around the world – the results simply reflect the market trends. Over the previous editions, the results showed that bidding for or hosting major international sports events, such as Continental Games or Olympic Games, strongly increased the chance of cities being perceived as having a strong association with sport. We look forward to seeing if this trend will be confirmed this year."

For more information, please contact Héloïse Signe, Senior Consultant at TSE Consulting:

hsigne@tseconsulting.com

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