This is an opinion column

Nick Sellers slept fitfully the night before this day one year ago—if at all. And the CEO of World Games 2022 hasn’t had many good nights’ sleep since.

The Games opened a year ago today, more than seven years after former Birmingham Mayor William Bell and a contingent of local business and political leaders secured the global multi-sport event that was little known in the United States—and a year after it was originally scheduled. The delay was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our team had a lot of excitement,” Sellers reminisced this week. “There were so many moving parts as thousands of athletes were arriving and being checked into their athlete villages in time to arrive for the parade of nations at the Opening Ceremony. We had a final leadership team check-in midafternoon, and all met at Protective Stadium around five p.m. for a staff and board photo.”

It was the last calm. The next 10 days were a gale of logistics—34 sports, 3,600 athletes performing in 20 venues across the region. By most accounts, the games were a success. There were, of course, glitches (vendors) and grumbles (wait, you mean Lionel Richie made us wait that long and only played four songs). But the athletes and visitors (disappointingly low, mostly family and World Games officials) left enriched by their experience.

“After the two years of the pandemic, The World Games family celebrated a reunion,” said International World Games Association President Jose Perurena at the closing ceremonies. “The ‘world’ felt at home in Birmingham.”

The world also left a huge tab.

The Games, as AL.com reported last year, cost $65.1 million to produce—$10 million less than initially projected. However, the event fell far short of its revenue goals, generating about $51 million through sponsorships and ticket sales, leaving a $14.1 million shortfall.

At the conclusion of the Games, outstanding invoices totaling $15,656,173 owed to more than 100 companies or individuals. Fifty-seven of the companies were either local to the Birmingham area or diverse (minority- or women-owned).

On top of initial financial contributions to support the Games, Jefferson County put an extra $4 million in the debt kitty, The City of Birmingham ($5 million), and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau also ponied up to help.

It wasn’t close to enough. In November, AL.com reported that the Games still owed millions to creditors, including $1.4 million owed to the Sheraton and Westin hotels, and the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC).

In a few months, the books will finally be closed, according to Sellers. The Games recently received the first half of the $5 million it was allocated from Gov. Kay Ivey’s record $8.8 billion Education Trust Fund, which was used to satisfy “most” creditors, he said.

“We’ve made final payments to close out our remaining balances to most of the remaining vendors and worked with the few large remaining vendors on an agreement to pay some now and make final payments in October when we receive the second half,” he said.

Among creditors still owed are the Sheraton and Weston hotels, and the BJCC. In response to an inquiry, a BJCC spokesperson wrote: “A portion of the World Games’ bill at the hotels has now been paid, and the outstanding amount is supposed to be paid in October.”

The amount paid to the BJCC since November is $214,000, the spokesperson confirmed.

“Our public and corporate partners stood together to ensure we were able to successfully close out the World Games 2022,” Sellers said. “Many thanks to each one of them – especially our Jefferson County Legislative delegation led by Senators Jabo Waggoner and Rodger Smitherman. The state’s final support will allow us to honor all remaining obligations and close out with positive momentum for our next big event.”

Could the massive shortfall have been avoided? Should it have been? Of course, to both. Such is the gift of hindsight.

The Games was a victim of overpromising and underdelivering (the number of global visitors, primarily; 13,000 from 40 countries, the Games said), and a model in the U.S. where such events are largely funded by the private sector, not public dollars, as is done in other nations.

“We always want to see [economic] history,” said CVB President/CEO John Oros, CEO. “The unusual scenario with the World Games was you couldn’t get the history on what their impact was because they had been put on by countries. And countries sometimes aren’t very transparent. So, you’ve got to go with what was left. There was a trust factor. The leadership at the time had to go with what basically they were told it was going to produce.”

Oros credited the Games with helping Birmingham secure the Senior Games in 2017 (“hugely successful”, the 2024 Transplant Games, and the 2025 World Police & Fire Games.

“All have much lower budgets than the World Games, and very, very significant economic impact,” Oros said. “The World Games put us on the map with all these, no doubt about it. It made us a very recognized and respected multi-sport, multi-venue events destination.”

Last month, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach gave the Games a shoutout on social media. “You could really feel the excitement around these Games,” he said. “They sent an important message at the time: Yes, sport is back.”

After posing for that team photo a year ago, it was on—for the next 10 days.

“[The Opening Ceremonies] was literally a minute-by-minute show flow until the end,” he recalled. “I developed such an appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes coordinating a global live broadcast and moving so many athletes, musicians, and performers on and off the big stage and field. It was mind-blowing.

“There were some production challenges most fans never even saw,” he said. “But I was so proud of the team in how they stuck together and worked through every challenge. We learned a lot that evening. And what we learned helped us through the ten days. I think I got in bed around two a.m. for a five-thirty a.m. wake-up call.”

Sellers is sleeping better these days—finally.

“Even with the challenges that we faced, there were countless victories,” he said. “To the extent there were things that could’ve been done better, those are my responsibility as the leader of the team. We are all better for the journey. And our region is better prepared for the next big opportunity.”