When Glasgow was confirmed as the host city for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, there was understandable relief across the sporting world.

After Victoria’s withdrawal and uncertainty surrounding the future of the Games, many sports faced an anxious wait to discover whether they would be included in a streamlined programme.

In a reduced Games featuring just 10 sports, bowls and para bowls retained their place on the programme, recognition of our unique place within the Commonwealth Games story and an acknowledgement of the role the event continues to play in raising the profile of bowls around the world.

A Commonwealth Games tradition

Since making its debut at the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada, bowls has featured at every edition of the Games except Kingston 1966.

From Australia’s dominance in the early years to the rise of nations such as Scotland, England, South Africa, Malaysia and New Zealand, the Games have consistently showcased bowls at its highest level.

Importantly, the Commonwealth Games places bowlers alongside athletes from other sports, providing exposure that bowls cannot receive elsewhere. That visibility matters because every sport needs moments that capture public attention.

A changing Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games has evolved alongside the changing priorities of international sport. Host cities have looked for new ways to reduce costs, improve sustainability and ensure the Games remain relevant in an increasingly crowded sporting calendar; conversations that have become more urgent in recent years.

Victoria’s withdrawal from hosting the 2026 Games served as a reminder that major multi-sport events can no longer rely on ever-increasing budgets or large-scale infrastructure projects.

Future hosts will be expected to deliver events that are financially sustainable while still providing a world-class experience for athletes and spectators.

Every sport that features in the Glasgow Games had to demonstrate its value and reflect the values that the Commonwealth Games seeks to celebrate.

Bowls is well placed to contribute to a model that places greater emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and community impact. Its inclusion in this slimmed-down event is a massive boost for the future of our sport and a chance to showcase its genuine inclusivity as it brings together players of different ages, backgrounds and abilities. Bowls offers meaningful opportunities for both established sporting nations and smaller countries to compete for medals. It promotes respect, sportsmanship and friendship alongside elite performance.

The Glasgow 2026 programme has placed particular emphasis on fan engagement, with bowls and para bowls being contested indoors at the SEC Centre in what organisers have described as a more intimate environment for both athletes and spectators.

A truly Commonwealth sport

Countries from every region of the Commonwealth regularly challenge for medals within bowls and that diversity is one of our greatest assets.

The success of Malaysia and Singapore in recent decades has demonstrated the growth of the sport in Asia, while nations such as Botswana, Namibia and South Africa have helped strengthen competition across Africa.

Meanwhile, traditional powerhouses including Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and England continue to drive standards higher.

The Commonwealth Games provides a stage where nations large and small can compete on equal terms. It also offers something fundamentally different – it introduces bowls to people who were never looking for it.

Every Games produces moments where viewers switch on to watch athletics or swimming before discovering bowls almost by accident. They stay because what they are seeing draws them in. The beauty of our game, the reason people continue to play year after year and the appeal through the generations is something that is difficult to convey through words alone. Broadcasting allows people to experience it for themselves.

This means that every four years, bowls reaches audiences that national governing bodies, clubs and streaming could never hope to attract independently. We need this to attack the stereotypes that plague us.

Of course, not everyone who watches the Commonwealth Games will join a bowls club, but thousands will think differently about the sport.

More than a fortnight of competition

For the athletes who will compete in Glasgow over the next 10 days, their influence cannot be underestimated.

Somewhere, a young player will watch international bowls for the first time and decide to join a local club, a volunteer will be inspired to become an umpire, a coach will have new ideas, a broadcaster will discover stories that deserve to be told more often and a local authority or funding partner may begin to see bowls differently.

These are not outcomes that appear in official medal tables or ranking lists, but they are among the most important legacies any Commonwealth Games can leave behind.

Bowls clubs around the world can use this unique platform to recruit members, encourage investment in facilities and create healthier, more connected communities.

For World Bowls and its member nations, those long-term benefits are every bit as significant as success on the green.

Growing the game is about ensuring bowls remains accessible, relevant and sustainable for future generations, whether that means supporting a well-established federation or helping an emerging nation take its first steps in international competition.

This is work that’s happening every day away from the spotlight, but the Commonwealth Games provides the moment when the world gets to see the results.

World Bowls CEO Neil Dalrymple said:

“The Commonwealth Games is where our sport reaches its widest audience. For many people, it’s the first time they’ve ever watched elite bowls, and they often come away surprised by the skill, precision and tactical depth involved.

“From World Bowls’ perspective, changing perceptions is incredibly important because the Games don’t just showcase our best athletes, they help inspire the next generation of players, coaches, officials and volunteers. The impact lasts long after the medals have been awarded.”

A global game

World Bowls has worked to strengthen bowls in every region of the world and its membership now stretches over 90 nations and territories spanning six regions, supporting everything from governance and coaching to equipment support, officiating, education and international competition.

Alongside established bowls nations sit federations from countries including Argentina, Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, Hong Kong China, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United States and Zimbabwe. Each brings its own culture, playing style and ambitions.

Let’s look at the last two decades. Malaysia’s rise has been one of the most significant success stories since the Games were held in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Once regarded as an emerging nation, it is now firmly established among the sport’s elite, regularly producing players capable of competing for the biggest titles on the international stage.

India’s breakthrough at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games perhaps demonstrated more clearly than anything else the transformative power of international success. The women’s fours team captured the country’s imagination by winning a historic gold medal, generating extensive national media coverage and introducing millions of people to bowls for the very first time.

In a country where many had previously known little about the sport, bowls suddenly occupied newspaper front pages and prime-time television coverage.

For World Bowls, whose mission extends far beyond elite competition, that is one of the Games’ greatest legacies. Growing bowls is about creating sustainable national federations, helping emerging countries develop pathways for players and ensuring the sport continues to evolve in an increasingly competitive sporting landscape.

Neil said:

“People naturally associate World Bowls with our major championships, but our role goes much further than organising events.

“Our responsibility is to support the global development of the sport. We’re fortunate to have member nations across Africa, Asia, Middle Asia and Eastern Europe, Europe, Oceania and the Americas, and every country is at a different stage of its development. Some have long-established high-performance programmes, while others are still building participation from the grassroots upwards.

“Our job is to support all of them. Ultimately, if bowls is growing in more countries, becoming more diverse and creating opportunities for more people to play, then that’s good for the entire sport.”

A defining opportunity

The format of bowls at Glasgow will naturally lend itself to dramatic finishes, unexpected champions and stories that capture the imagination across the Commonwealth. Those moments are so important because they remind us what sport can do.

Bowls has changed considerably over the past century. Participation has spread across new continents, international competition has become stronger and more diverse and there has been innovation in coaching, officiating and performance support.

World Bowls has played a central role in that journey, working with its member nations to strengthen the sport from grassroots participation through to elite competition. Its vision is not simply to govern bowls, but to help it grow – supporting established nations while creating opportunities for emerging countries to thrive.

The Commonwealth Games provides the ideal platform for people to see a sport that is:

• Modern, inclusive and internationally competitive.
• Played by people of all ages, with para athletes competing alongside able-bodied athletes.
• Proud that small nations can stand shoulder to shoulder with global sporting powers.
• Made stronger by its people.

That is the power of the Commonwealth Games, and no participation campaign or advertising budget could ever create that level of public awareness.

That’s why bowls’ inclusion is about so much more than medals.