13 Aug
Glasgow’s SEC celebrates Commonwealth Games success as it transformed into a multi-sport venue and welcomed 200,000 visitors on campus
After the 23rd Commonwealth Games drew to a close on the 2 August Glasgow, the SEC celebrated its role as the single largest competition hub of the Games, having reconfigured its campus to host six of the 10 sports across 360 hours of competition.
The iconic buildings that comprise the SEC welcomed 200,000 people onto campus over the course of the Games, including an average of 5,500 athletes and staff each day.
Although the SEC regularly transforms its space for events, hosting six different sports simultaneously meant the campus had to be fundamentally reimagined as a sporting destination. The Hydro, which normally hosts global live entertainment acts was converted into a world-class netball venue, the Armadillo hosted weightlifting and para-weightlifting and the SEC was home to 3x3 basketball, wheelchair basketball, judo, bowls and para-bowls.
Each sport had different spatial requirements, technical requirements, athlete and official needs and broadcast demands. The experienced SEC team delivered it all concurrently across the campus.
Dominic McKay, CEO of the SEC, said: “Glasgow 2026 was a phenomenal success and we’re proud to have played such a key role. We spend every day creating incredible experiences for concert audiences, conference delegates and exhibition visitors, but to be entrusted with the Commonwealth Games for a second time, and to have been at the heart of one of the world’s great multi-sport events, right here in Glasgow, is something none of us will ever forget. It’s also a huge statement of confidence in what the SEC is capable of.
“Over the Games, Glasgow demonstrated its vibrancy, fun and dynamism as a city, and I’m proud that our venues hosted key moments, which will go down in sporting history. I’d like to say a huge thanks to the SEC team who showed great professionalism, creativity, resilience and commitment to deliver something that’s genuinely historic.”
Phil Batty, CEO of Glasgow 2026, said: “The SEC has been one of the beating hearts of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Within the Campus we saw six sports and we knew that with the SEC, we had a first-class venue combined with world-class expertise of people who could come together and help us make these Games be the success they have been.
“Pulling this Commonwealth Games off in less than 18 months has been no small feat and working with the SEC team, we’ve been able to draw on all of the knowledge they have of this venue, of the previous Games in 2014 and of putting on some of the biggest events in Scotland. That’s allowed us to move quicker, faster and smarter to put on an incredible event, which has been magnificently delivered.”
An independent interim report published found that Glasgow 2026 has established "a proof of concept for the future of the Commonwealth Sport Movement," praising the Games for delivering the fastest turnaround in the history of major international sport.
The SEC's transformation into a six-sport campus, reusing existing venues rather than building new ones, reflects the smarter, more sustainable delivery model the report highlights.
