Mega Sport Events, Development, and Tourism

There is enough literature based on empirical evidence to show that the benefits claimed for Mega-sport events, tourism and development are exaggerated. The pressure to deliver infrastructure and sporting facilities does not address issues of social displacement, land acquisition, environmental degradation, violation of worker’s rights, disruption of residents’ lifestyle area issues and overrides traditional participatory planning processes. This chapter explores the economic, environmental and social impacts of mega sports events– through a focused analysis of the developments associated with Commonwealth Games (CWG)2010 in Delhi. The case study developed by EQUATIONS concludes by highlighting that the trend of mega sport events, city beautification and evictions is not a story of the CWG alone but has continued even during the FIFA U17 – World Cup that took place in Kolkata among other venues across the country in October 2017.

How News affects Stock Prices of Olympics and FIFA host countries

As the sports industry continues to grow, mega sports events can have a significant impact on the financial markets. Stock market performance is influenced by sports-related news, however, very few studies have been undertaken to examine the impact of sports events on the stock market. Results of econometric analysis, controlling for potential endogeneity of the stock returns variables, show that news index has a positive and significant impact on stock returns. The results also show that interest rate and oil prices have a positive and significant impact on stock returns, whereas, VIX index has a negative and significant impact on stock returns.

Hosting annual international sporting events and tourism: Formula 1, golf or tennis?

Hosting sports events to attract international tourists is a common policy practised by many host governments. Hosting mega-sports events like the Olympics is said to leave a legacy that could impact the attractiveness of a country/city in the long term. However, the opportunity to host these mega-events is limited and expensive. This study considers the economic impact of hosting annual international sporting events, specifically the extent to which Formula 1, ATP Tennis and PGA Golf can attract international tourists. Using monthly data from 1998 to 2018, we show that the effect differs from one sport to another within a country and the same sport across countries. Hosting the Formula 1 is most effective for Canada but has no significant impact in Australia and the United Kingdom. ATP Tennis and PGA Golf have a significant impact on at least two countries. Policy-makers must consider carefully the sport that gives the best bang-for-the-buck.

Urban Infrastructure Resilience Assessment During Mega Sport Events Using a Multi-Criteria Approach

Critical infrastructures share the same space and mutual dependencies, and consequently contribute to city's overall resilience. However, each has different assessment methods and metrics, which prevents the integration of the performance results for different infrastructures into a single holistic evaluation index that can reflect the city's overall resilience and expected performance. To address this challenge, we propose the development of a multi-criteria-based integration approach that can allow the combination of different evaluation results from different assessment methods through partial factors. The proposed equation incorporates several factors, which can be divided into four groups: (1) method-efficiency factors, (2) infrastructure importance factors, (3) infrastructures' interdependency factors, and (4) strict limits that ensure that the infrastructures are suitable for hosting mega sports events. Using this approach, we hope to open the way for future research into suitable factors and facilitate resilience-based design in sustainable development and municipal planning.

Innovation for Positive Sustainable Legacy From Mega Sports Events: Virtual Reality as a Tool for Social Inclusion Legacy for Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

There is significant interest in how sports events and their associated legacies could act as a platform to address global challenges and engender social change. The United Nations (UN) has acknowledged the important role that sport plays in supporting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Olympic movement could be argued as central to that objective. Yet critical questions and concerns have been raised about the growing expenditure, viability, long term legacy, and impacts of mega sports events such as the Olympic Games. While much evidence has focused on the challenges of creating legacy for Olympic Games, there is considerably less literature on understanding the Paralympic context. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of innovation in creating legacy from MSEs and propose a theoretical and methodological plan for such research. Innovation, a key driver in organizational performance, is suggested as essential to defining, planning for and measuring legacy. We specifically examine the potential of virtual reality (VR) as a technological innovation which can help create a social inclusion legacy in the context of Paris 2024 Olympic/Paralympic Games. A conceptual model is developed, which identifies legacy as a “wicked problem”, and this paper discusses the importance of innovation with regards to legacy, by suggesting a new application for VR technology in the context of legacy related to social inclusion. Information technology is a valuable facilitator of social inclusion for individuals with a disability. We specifically examine the potential of VR as a technological innovation which can help create legacy through influencing unconscious biases (symbolic ableism) toward diversity such as disability, gender, and race.

Evaluating the Impact of Mega-Sports Events on Urbanization Focusing on Land-Use Changes Using a Scenario-Based Model

Mega-sports events have a profound impact on promoting the urbanization process, optimizing the urban spatial structure, and improving the competitiveness of the host city. Taking the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 (AGH) as an example, we used remote sensing data and a scenario-based model to simulate land-use changes and developments from 2005 to 2025. By setting two scenarios, natural development and AGH-driven development, we explored the impact of AGH on urban development and its driving factors. The results show that (1) cultivated land areas decreased by 369.96 km2, while construction land areas increased by 488.33 km2 among the main land-use types in Hangzhou from 2005 to 2020. Urban areas quickly expanded with the West Lake as the center. (2) Urban sprawl intensity under the AGH-driven scenario is expected to increase by 0.91% compared to in the natural-development scenario, indicating that hosting AGH would accelerate the expansion of urban land, particularly in districts set with sports venues such as Binjiang, Xiaoshan, and Yuhang. The strategic trend of supporting the Qiantang River is obvious. (3) Under the influence of AGH, the centroid of urban construction land shifted towards the southeast, and the spatial direction was remarkable. The construction of venues and supporting facilities, and construction land for public rail transit, are the main direct driving forces of urban expansion. The AGH enhances the pace of urbanization, significantly altering the urban spatial structure and helping the city achieve a major transition from the West Lake Era to the Qiantang River Era. Furthermore, our research can provide insights into other cities that will host mega-sports events.

The Evolution of China’s Sporting Diplomacy since 1949

The sporting diplomacy in China, as an integral part of China’s overall diplomacy, unswervingly upholds the fundamental foreign policy goal of preserving world peace and promoting common development since New China was founded. After adopting the policy of reform and opening, the sporting diplomacy in China has made historical achievements through intensive participation in international sporting competitions, extensive involvement in international sporting organizations, active hosting of mega sports events, and frequent engagement in cultural sporting exchanges with other countries. In the last decade, with a constant increase in China’s economy, cultural soft power and international influence of sports, China makes an all-round effort in the pursuit of major countrywide sporting diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Currently, despite the severe challenges outside China, Beijing is making smooth preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, which embraces another milestone in the diplomacy of sport in China. This paper analyzes decision environments, goals, actions and defining features of China’s sporting diplomacy in different periods and follows on to summarize practical experiences in the development of the sporting diplomacy in China. The paper shows that the resounding success of China’s sporting diplomacy can be attributed to its commitment to serving the country’s diplomatic strategy and core interests, its commitment to following the Chinese path of sporting diplomacy, and its commitment to the traditional Chinese value of peaceful development. Finally, emerging issues and promotion strategies are presented.