Stakeholders’ perspectives on hosting large-scale sports events

Abstract

Special events, in general, and sports events, in particular, are a major focus and revenue generator for cities that host these events. They are time-specific, and they can have a variety of short- or long-term, positive or negative impacts, which contribute to both beneficial or harmful outcomes. If prolonged over time, these outcomes have been called “legacies.” This study sought to explore key stakeholders’ perspectives on the attributes needed to host large-scale sports events. The research concentrated on identifying the main factors that attract large-scale sports events to specific municipalities, motivations to sponsor these events, and the main challenges faced by official agencies during events. The data were collected from 22 participants in a focus group meeting including three main types of stakeholders: event organizers, event sponsors, and official entities. The interview transcripts were processed using mixed content analysis methods. The results revealed that the main themes mentioned by event organizers are media coverage, sports infrastructure, sponsor brands, discipline in sports, event organization, event and city security, motivation, capacity (e.g., accommodations), stakeholder commitment, residents, and territorial impacts. Sponsors are usually large, well-known firms, and discussions about them covered the following themes: event-sponsor fit, sponsorship returns, mega-event territorial marketing, brand strategy, and sponsorship competition. The main themes mentioned by official entities are accessibility, events that sell cities, destination visibility, security, protection of athletes and the public, hospitals, residents, changes, and territory. This study’s findings contribute to the existing literature by focusing on the specific case of large-scale sports events and examining three main event stakeholders’ perspectives. Managerial implications are also discussed.