The local governments of four South Korean provinces have come together and officially announced their bid to host the 2027 Summer World University Games. The news comes after the International University Sports Federation (FISU) named western German city Rhine-Ruhr as the site of the 2025 Summer Universiade, which South Korea had also put out a bid for.
The four provinces have banded together to cut the costs of hosting such a large event. By expanding the area used, the governments would gain access to more facilities, thus eliminating the need to build more stadiums. The city of Daejeon is said to be the focus of the proposal, along with the surrounding cities of Cheongju, Sejong, and Hongseong. The region has around 70 universities and a large population of 5.5 million.
Korea has a successful background in hosting the Summer World University Games. In 2003, the country won the bid for the event which drew a record-setting 174 countries. More recently, Gwangju, South Korea attracted 12,885 competitors at the 2015 Summer Universiade, making it the most widely attended sporting event in the world.
Napoli, Italy hosted the 2019 Summer Games, the last event of the series to take place before the pandemic shut down world travel and international competition.
South Korea’s bid follows that of the Triangle Area in North Carolina. The United States made the announcement in February, citing its ample universities and athletic stadiums as a strong selling point.
FISU will likely choose a host city in the Fall of 2022. The decision won’t be announced until the Winter World University Games in Lake Placid in January of 2023. They recently shared the news that Turin, Italy will be hosting the 2025 Winter World University Games, and the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany will host the Summer Universiade.
Earlier this year, CNN reported that North and South Korea had sent in their bid to the IOC to jointly host the 2032 Olympic Games.