Press Release

The 1st World Outgames Montréal 2006:
On track with more than 3,000 registered
from 80 countries

Montréal, 24 January 2005– “Eighteen months away from the largest sport and cultural event in Montréal in the next three years, the 1st World Outgames in 2006, we are pleased to announce that registrations have now passed the 3,000 mark,” Ms. Lucie Duguay, Co-President, and Ms. Louise Roy, CEO of Montréal 2006, announced today during a press conference held with the Honourable Charles Lapointe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montréal and Mr. Michel Prescott, Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal.

With already more than 3,000 paid registrations, the future is looking bright for Montréal 2006. Of these, 44% of registrants come from North America, 30% from Europe, 15% from Oceania, 5% from Latin America, 2% from Africa and 4% from Asia.

In presenting its 2004 report, Montréal 2006 organisers provided an update on a year that, despite its challenges, was marked by progress and success, assuring that the Outgames will be held as planned in 2006.

More than 3,000 paid registrations and private sponsors

“It is important to understand,” explained Ms. Roy, “that Outgames participants assume their own registration costs. That is why 50% of our 16.9 million dollar budget will be generated by participants and visitors, with 28% coming from registration fees, and 22% from ticketing and the sale of promotional products. Unlike other recent sporting events, our games are about participation, open to all, yet sanctioned by experienced national or international governing bodies for each discipline.”

Currently, public funds represent 23% of the budget and sponsorships in cash, goods and services 26%. Fundraising activities make up the remaining 1%.

Sponsorships for Montréal 2006 are currently valued at a total of 12 million dollars, which breaks down as follows: private partners, 4.5 million dollars, or 38% of the total; public partnerships, 3.8 million dollars or 32% of the total; and media partners, with a total of 3.6 million dollars, representing 30% of the total.

Solid partnerships

“The City of Montréal and Tourisme Montréal,” said Ms.Roy, “have been incredible partners for Montréal 2006 since the beginning. Their support is an amazing added value toward the success of this project.”

The City of Montréal’s commitment will be in the form of indispensable services: the use of the city’s infrastructures, including numerous Olympic facilities.

“The City of Montréal,” said Mr. Michel Prescott, Vice-President of the Executive Committee, “has been working with the Organising Committee for more than four years and the project is progressing as planned. Our infrastructures are there, along with various levels of technical support, including policing, signage and so on. On 29 July 2006, the anniversary of the closing of the 1976 Olympic Games, in an Olympic Stadium filled to capacity, we can all look forward to taking part in the Opening Ceremonies of the Outgames, which are sure to fill every citizen with great pride.”

For its part, Tourisme Montréal has provided not only financial support but has also been an outstanding promoter of the Outgames.

“The international LGBT community, according to our analyses, already has a positive image of Montréal,” said the Honourable Charles Lapointe, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. “The rate at which registrations are coming in, eighteen months before the event, is further proof of this. This is also the result of four years of joint efforts between Tourisme Montréal and Montréal 2006, and our work does not stop there. We have already launched our plans for 2005 and we will have a presence in every corner of the world; Montréal 2006 will be a part of more than 200 promotional activities, including festivals, conventions, sport tournaments, and trade shows. Tourisme Montréal will continue to actively support Montréal 2006.”

In addition, both the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada have been actively involved in the Outgames since the beginning. By making financial commitments of one million dollars each to this sporting event, and by opening existing programs to encourage additional participation in the International Conference on rights, these two partners have clearly demonstrated that the LGBT community is an integral part of our society. In survey after survey, the vast majority of the Québec and Canadian population has shown an openness to LGBT issues that goes beyond mere tolerance.

A true international force

Following events that led to Montréal 2006’s decision to forge ahead with their event without the “Gay Games” trademark, the international LGBT community immediately rallied behind the idea of creating a new international, democratic, and geographically representative movement open to the population at large: the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA).

Less than one year since its creation, GLISA already has 47 member teams and organisations, which bodes extremely well for the years to come and for the 2nd World Outgames in 2009.

“GLISA entrusted the 1st World Outgames to Montréal 2006,” said Thomas Dolan, Co-President of GLISA, “because we are confident that the Organising Committee is fully capable of delivering an event that will be a positive milestone in the annals of the LGBT sport movement. In just a matter of months, GLISA has positioned itself as a world leader in the development, promotion and support of sport and culture in our community, not only in Western countries where the job is easier, but also building ties on all five continents, even making breakthroughs, for the first time in our history, in Africa and Latin America.”

The road ahead in 2005

“The year before us,” concluded Ms. Roy, “will be dedicated to intensive international promotion with the invaluable support of Tourisme Montréal so that 11 months from now, the number of registrations will allow us to unequivocally state that the Outgames will be an international success on an unprecedented scale. As well, in 2005 we will be setting up our teams of volunteers. We will need the help of over 5,000 volunteers, and we are calling upon Montréalers, with their natural enthusiasm and spirit of hospitality, to join us in welcoming the world to Montréal in 2006.”

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To download a PDF version of our 2004 Activity Report, click here >>

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