The Montréal 1976 Olympics might be of the most prominent example of a major sporting event bringing its host city more harm than benefits in the long run. Until today, the Canadian metropolis is paying off debts that were accumulated over 40 years ago. Major sporting events, however, do not necessarily have to be the…
The creation of positive economic, sporting, social, political and environmental legacies is one of major motivations behind cities’ decisions to host sport events of all kinds. However, much of events’ positive legacies emerge from hosts’ ability to leverage existing assets and build on them to build a better future for their city. Though most sports…
When most of us think about sports events, the first thing that comes to mind is the sport on show. The fast-paced action, the special bit of skill or the game-clinching winner. And so it should be – such memories enable the sport to become infused in people’s minds and turn casual viewers into long-term…
Taking sports events to new places is often seen by sports organisations as a symbol of progress, of opening new horizons. This of course is not without reason – a sports events in a region previously untouched can help sports to engage new audiences and commercial partners, as well as new generations of athletes. A…
Many international rights-holders, including the IOC and several International Federations, are nowadays awarding the hosts of their major events via a more consultative approach compared to the traditional bidding process where two or more places are competing for the same event. Some major events, however, are still awarded via a competitive bidding process – e.g.…
“It’s the end of the world as we know it”, so goes the chorus of R.E.M’s famous pop song. Written in 1987 to picture a doomsday scenario, it might be equally applicable to the world of sports events – as we know it – in 2020. As a matter of fact, COVID19 is still keeping…
Traditionally, sports events follow one of two typical patterns. Either they are attached to a home arena of a team, resulting in home and away games for individual clubs. Or rights holders are looking for host cities and venues bidding for their event. Either way, fans typically have to travel, often a lot. This hasn’t…
When sports organisations and event organisers meet to discuss various aspects of sports events, the word ‘legacy’ is often mentioned. An event must ‘leave a legacy behind’ and the basic idea of ‘event legacy’ is to focus not only on the period of the actual event but even more on the years following the event.…
A good and focused sports event strategy can produce success – and the lack of it is often the main reason for ending up spending a lot of money without creating impact or generating the desired benefits. Having a strategy does not mean that bids won’t be lost or that every event will result in…
Creating a high level of local engagement in an event is a priority for almost any sport event rights-holder and local organising committee. High local engagement has the obvious tangible benefits of developing new fans of the sport, creating full arenas and offering more lucrative commercial opportunities for the organisers, all of which can be…
