Sport, universities, and diplomacy: what we learned in Los Angeles

Sport has always been more than competition. It creates shared language, shared rules and, shared moments. At a time when international relationships are often under strain, that matters. A recent roundtable in Los Angeles, co-hosted by the University of Birmingham and Loughborough University, was a timely reminder that sport can be one of the most effective ways of bringing people and institutions together.

The LA roundtable was part of Greater Together LA, a UK Government delegation to California from 19 to 21 May 2026. The programme brought together leaders, founders and policymakers from the UK and US under the theme of “Unexpected Connections”. The delegation was led by Lisa Nandy, the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and co-hosted by Sir Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group.

Our roundtable discussion came at an important moment. North America is preparing for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and Los Angeles will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028. These events will generate global attention as well as commercial opportunity. But their real value will depend on whether they leave a wider legacy: healthier communities, more inclusive participation, stronger local economies and better international collaboration.

This is where universities have a distinctive role. Universities train athletes, coaches, clinicians, engineers, data scientists, policy specialists and civic leaders. We generate evidence on performance, injury prevention, inclusion, public health, sustainability, major-event legacy and the economics of sport. We also have long-term relationships with cities, governments, businesses and international partners. That gives universities an unusual convening power: we can bring together people who may not otherwise sit around the same table.

The Los Angeles roundtable showed how valuable that role can be. Participants from sport, government, universities, civic organisations and industry approached the same questions from different angles. How do we maximise public value from major sporting events? How do we ensure that innovation benefits communities as well as elite performers? How can we strengthen Para sport and inclusive design? And how do we balance commercial ambition with social purpose?

Sport's global connections

For Birmingham, this agenda is especially relevant. The legacy of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham demonstrated how sport can connect universities, cities and communities globally. Building on this momentum, the multi-billion-pound investment by US-owned Knighthead Capital in Birmingham City Football Club and the new Sports Quarter will bring together business, education and government to drive inclusive growth, tackle health inequalities and strengthen community engagement.

The connection between sport, universities and diplomacy is particularly powerful for the UK because these are three areas in which we have genuine global strength. The UK has world-leading universities, deep expertise in the organisation, governance and science of sport, and a long diplomatic tradition built on partnership, convening power and international trust. Bringing these strengths together gives us more than a platform for discussion. It creates a practical basis for collaboration with international partners, linking research, policy, major events, community benefit and long-term institutional relationships.

Our strengths in sport, exercise and rehabilitation sciences, character education through sport, sports performance, and our growing relationships in California, give us an opportunity to think more ambitiously about the role that our university, and others, can play in the decade of global sport ahead.

The challenge is clear: to ensure that sport’s global moments produce lasting public value. Universities should be central to that task.