Assessing the environmental impacts of mega sporting events: Two options?

At a time when public and private agencies recognise the importance of sustainable development, the environmental impacts of mega sporting events are commanding increasing attention. However, despite event sponsors often flagging the importance of environmental as well as socio-economic legacy components, the environmental impacts of events are difficult to assess quantitatively, being complex and often occurring over extended periods. The general assessment issue is particularly acute with regard to mega events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. The practical issues mean that any quantitative techniques seeking to assess environmental impacts are likely to be partial in scope. This paper examines two such approaches for quantitative impact assessment of selected environmental externalities connected with visitation at sporting events. The paper considers the use of Ecological Footprint analysis and Environmental Input–Output modelling. It provides examples of the applications of these techniques to discrete sporting events in a UK region, and discusses whether these techniques are appropriate for exploring the environmental impacts of mega events.     

An Olympic legacy for all? The non-infrastructural outcomes of the Olympic Games for socially excluded groups (Atlanta 1996-Beijing 2008)

The use of mega sporting events to achieve social goals for socially excluded groups is heavily contested. Comparative evidence regarding the effects of the Olympic Games for these groups is scarce, and there is an even greater dearth of studies focusing on non-infrastructural programmes (such as sport participation initiatives, volunteering opportunities, training and employment schemes). This study identifies planning principles that allow for the development of such non-infrastructural benefits for socially excluded groups in host cities, and reviews their application in recent Olympic Games.This study examines data from 7 Olympic cities (Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin and Beijing). It shows that the Olympic Games generally bring few benefits for socially excluded groups, although these benefits are often important justifications in the bidding stage. The study highlights the growing importance placed by the International Olympic Committee on environmental sustainability, and proposes a similar emphasis on social sustainability.     

Young people,digital media making and critical digital citizenship

A range of recent academic, policy and practice-focused work in the UK and internationally has identified a need for more focused attention on the role of digital literacies in enabling young people to more effectively navigate their way through an increasingly complex, digitally mediated world. In this article, we explore the main debates taking place around the prevalence of digital media in the early twenty-first century, with emphasis on the role of pervasive digital media in educational settings. Focusing on the practice-based project, Digital Commonwealth, a series of critical insights are drawn, highlighting the difficulties facing educational authorities and young people in dealing with the opportunities and threats brought about by digital media. We conclude that a critical digital citizenship agenda needs to be embedded in educational narratives, where young people are, through practice, asked to ponder how digitally mediated publics operate in the school setting and beyond. Integrating ‘making’ and ‘thinking critically’ about the benefits and dangers of pervasive digital media in and outside of school is imperative. Our study suggests that there remain significant inequities in terms of provision across schools, access to suitable infrastructure and equipment, and the presence of qualified and confident staff with the requisite digital leadership attributes to enable digital media projects to be integrated into everyday learning practices. Major events, like the Commonwealth Games, can precipitate and accelerate uptake of new approaches and innovative thinking but they do not represent a panacea for the systemic development of critical digital citizenship over time.     

Four Drivers of Effective Sponsorship: A Case Study of the Birkebeiner Race in Norway

The aim of this article is to undertake an empirical examination of some selected drivers of effective sponsorship of sporting events. We examine four drivers of effective sponsorship. The proposed relationships were tested in a survey in which 200 spectators participated. Data collection was carried out during the Birkebeiner race, a mega sporting event in Norway. The findings reveal that “sponsor–event fit” is the most powerful driver of effective sponsorship. However, a key general managerial implication from the study is that one should avoid narrowing sponsorship focus to just a single driver. To achieve effective sponsorship, one should take into account all drivers suggested by the present study.     

Volunteers of mega-events as co-creators of host destinations: Volunteers' experience,value, and satisfaction toward host destination

Volunteers serve as the largest labor force in a mega sporting event and may become ambassadors for the host city and event. Volunteers at a mega sporting event are considered the co-creators because they mentally and physically participate in the event from start to finish. Therefore, understanding the role of volunteers as co-creators is critical. Volunteers can also have experiences as tourists, because they tend to spend their free time by sightseeing in the host city. However, the tourist and co-creation experiences of volunteers remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to empirically explore the experience of volunteers in the host city, by considering the broader perspectives of volunteers. A survey questionnaire was administered to volunteers at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. A latent moderated structural equation (LMS) modeling was employed to test the established hypotheses. The findings demonstrated that volunteers hold experiences as tourists and co-creators, and these experiences influence the perceived value of the event.     

Does a small community (town) benefit from an international event?

Tourism has been shown as a viable option for uplifting communities. However, not all communities have significant tourist attractions or are as easily accessible as larger, more developed cities. This isolation makes tourism benefits more difficult to achieve. This study aimed to determine to what extent an annual international sporting event, the Fauresmith 200 International Endurance Ride, can be an attraction in a small, mostly isolated community and can benefit residents, as well as the extent to which the event contributes to the community over time. Using quantitative, convenience sampling (questionnaires), four social impact perception factors during the event were revealed, as well as four social impact perceptions factors among residents of the event over time. Residents were found to perceive benefits both during the event and over time. Recommendations are made regarding the management of the event and the development of future sports events in the town.     

The effect of Facebook users’ arousal and valence on intention to go to the festival: Applying an extension of the technology acceptance model

The rapid development of social media has challenged event managers to rethink how this trend will shape traditional marketing practices. Given the rise of these technologies, the current breed of special event “fan” has started to take advantage of and venture into this social space for possible benefits. For event managers, the fundamental issue becomes how to uncover the process through which special event consumers come to accept social media marketing. This paper reviews social media marketing literature, the characteristics of event marketing, and highlights the emotional aspect of social media applications. An extended TAM (technology acceptance model) is adopted to explain the mechanism by which social media marketing influences attitudes toward Facebook event pages. The authors find that users’ emotions exhibited on the Facebook event page do have a significant impact on the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment of such social media marketing. However, only the last construct significantly influences users’ attitudes and intentions toward an event. Implications and insights were provided to event practitioners and were discussed accordingly.     

The Impact of a Mega Event on Visitors’ Attitude Toward Hosting Destination: Using Trust Transfer Theory

Despite the popularity of festivals and events, event managers and the hosting countries are not certain whether a successful event leads to favorable attitudes toward the hosting country. This study based on trust transfer theory considers the impact of attitude toward a mega event on attitude toward the hosting country. The study also examines two dimensions of perceived value related to the Shanghai Expo and their influences on attitude toward the event. The study finds that both emotional and functional dimensions of value offered by the Expo are important for evaluation of the event, although functional value is considered more important than emotional value. Supporting trust transfer theory, the study shows that attitude toward a mega event influences attitude toward the hosting country. The study also finds that both attitude toward a mega event and attitude toward the hosting country have a positive impact on visitors’ intentions to revisit China.     

Identity in the “Road Racing Capital of the World”: heritage,geography and contested spaces

This article explores the complex relationship between sport and landscape and their role in the expression and maintenance of identity. While discussions have typically emphasised the role taken by stadia and sporting venues in the development and expression of sporting and national identities, fewer have considered the role taken by the wider landscape. It is this landscape that provides the context in which many sports are enacted and watched and it is through the embodied actions and experiences that landscape is given added meaning, reinforcing narratives of space that are implicated in the creation and maintenance of national identities. Yet here, unlike stadia or other sporting venues, space is much less regulated; as a result, participants and observers are also implicated in the creation of “counter geographies” that destabilise “official” narratives of space. Here our focus is on the contested landscapes of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races; an event where sporting narratives have become materially and conceptually part of the landscape. Through a discussion of these landscapes and their expression in the Staying the Course exhibition curated by Manx National Heritage, we contend that geographies of sport must also reflect on the contested nature of sporting spaces.     

Be who you are and be proud: Brittney Griner,intersectional invisibility and digital possibilities for lesbian sporting celebrity

Abstract

This article examines current professional basketball player, Brittney Griner, and the ways in which her personal and athletic lives are represented on social media. In particular, her visibility and posts on her public Instagram account allow for a consideration of the digital possibilities for social change by lesbian sporting celebrities. This analysis interrogates these possibilities through a close reading of several Instagram posts regarding Griner’s romantic relationship with fellow basketball star, Glory Johnson. This article ultimately argues that Griner’s Instagram profile helps challenge the intersectional invisibility of Black lesbian sporting celebrities and discusses the implications of this visibility for similarly positioned LGB youth.     

The Impact of Sports Events on Inbound Tourism in New Zealand

Sports events are an instrument of destination marketing for host countries. Over the past 40 years, New Zealand has held sports events such as the Commonwealth Games and the America's Cup and many international tourists have visited New Zealand during these events. While past studies have examined the economic value of such tourism at a generic level, the impact of mega sports events at more specific levels is unknown. Thus, this study examines not only the impact of eight mega sports events upon New Zealand's international tourist arrivals over the 1983–2005 period at the overall level, but also the number of tourist arrivals from participating countries for each event. Results suggest that the 1990 Commonwealth Games, the 2000 America's Cup (yachting) and the 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour (rugby) had a significant impact on tourist arrivals overall and on arrivals from each participating country.     

The 2006 Asian Games: self-affirmation and soft power

This article is based on a study of the 2006 Asian Games held in Qatar. It was one of the first major international sporting events ever organised by Qatar that has since become a key location for such occasions. The purpose of this study was to explain the function of mega-events. They are associated with the event organisers to bring out the unique identity of a nation and to gain credibility with the international community through the use of an emotional dynamic. Analysis proposes to illustrate how this event affected Qatar internationally as part of soft power as well as the structuring role it played locally. The Asian Games were not to be perceived as an isolated sports event on the contrary, it was an integral part of a global strategy. Qatar needed to gain political recognition and to demonstrate its ability to organise other more prestigious sporting events. Moreover, this mega-event served a local purpose. It was essential in the process of identity affirmation. As a metaphor of society, sport had to symbolise excellence with regard to the values promoted. It was an opportunity to associate the modern aspect of sports with the traditional values of a political system and the Muslim faith. Previously, where sport was typically ingrained in the values that defined western society, Qatari leaders believed that social values could purify sports to become a method of socialisation. If mega-events were a means to increase Qatar’s influence in international relations, they also served as a cultural instrument that would impose a model for society and further increase the country’s influence.     

Economic impact of sporting events

Major sporting events have their main economic impact via the direct expenditure of tourists associated with the event. Care is needed to count only that expenditure that would not have occurred in the absence of the event. This means avoiding expenditure by tourists who would have visited regardless, but who timed their visit to coincide with the event. When all such expenditure has been avoided, the net remaining expenditure can be assessed using an input-output model of the host economy. It is argued that, because of its climatic and cultural advantages, Australia may be able to capitalize on the economic benefits of tourism resulting from major sporting events.     

The lived experience of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games volunteers: a serious leisure perspective

Along with other sporting mega-events, the Olympic Games, in all its versions, makes extensive use of volunteers. The 70,000 London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic volunteers, for example, played a vital role in the delivery of the event. Stebbins’ theoretical perspective of serious leisure includes consideration of volunteering and there are calls for its further empirical evaluation. This study, therefore, uses a qualitative study of the lived experience of London 2012 volunteers to test the relevance of the serious leisure framework to Olympic volunteering. The data are drawn from the reflective diaries of 20 participants who volunteered in a variety of roles during London 2012. It is concluded that all of the qualities of serious leisure are identifiable to various extents within the experiences of the London 2012 volunteers. This finding will help Olympic and other sporting mega-event managers to understand and improve the experiences of their volunteers. Recommendations are also made, in the light of the findings, for the further refinement of the serious leisure perspective. Particular attention is paid to highlighting how the findings might contribute to recent debates around whether sporting mega-event volunteering is best explained by the serious leisure quality of career volunteering, or by the serious leisure associated concept of project-based leisure, or alternatively by the competing term of episodic volunteering.     

The secondary crisis communication of Occupy Central on Weibo: A response to Denis Tolkach

This is a response to the rejoinder by Tolkach (2018) to Luo and Zhai's (2017) paper (“I will never go to Hong Kong again” How the secondary crisis communication of “Occupy Central” on Weibo shifted to a tourism boycott). The authors recognize Tolkach's suggestion on academic debates but hold different opinions to his arguments. Thus, further clarification is provided to Tolkach's two main concerns: the impact of Occupy Central on Hong Kong tourism and sentiment analysis of censored material. This response emphasizes that Luo and Zhai primarily discussed the secondary crisis communication and public emotions that arose in the Chinese social media over the events in Hong Kong, and not the events themselves. Additionally this rejoinder provides more information on Tourism between mainland China and Hong Kong, the environment of Chinese social media, and academic research progress in mainland China. It also advocates an “empathetic understanding” in cross-cultural academic dialogue.     

Mega-events and their legacy: Image and tourism in Genoa,Turin and Milan

Hosting, or organising, a mega-event is a form of destination branding; it is a way to generate the leveraging process of the event itself and promote the image of a location. Besides, these events allow a destination to attract the attention of the public and the media, enhancing its awareness nationally and internationally. Mega-events promote greater flows of tourists and visitors, especially in the short term. Nevertheless they produce long-lasting effects, such as the attraction and stimulation of investments, urban regeneration, advanced facilities and equipment, in addition to the improvement of accommodation, services and infrastructures. Thanks to those investments and to the growth in tourist arrivals, the mega-events could have a positive impact on the local economy, also over years, but some of their most important outcomes deal with the so-called intangible legacy, or rather social, cultural and political effects, more difficult to identify and measure. They can modify local identity and image, supporting the repositioning of the hosting place at an international level. The above considerations are discussed in this study; most attention is paid to three Italian cities, involved in top events: Genoa, appointed as European Capital of Culture in 2004; Turin, that hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games in 2006; Milan, that is now organising the Universal Expo 2015.     

Assessing the contribution of a major cycle race to host communities in South Australia

The development of major sport events in rural areas offers opportunities for local communities to engage in leisure, sport and tourism activity. While current studies investigate the impact of sport events on residents individually, little research has taken a community perspective. The purpose of this research was to explore the process of event development and the impact upon social interactions in seven rural communities in the 2012 Tour Down Under cycling race in Australia. Using grounded theory to explore community activities, interviews and focus groups with over 100 participants resulted in the development of a core category of collaboration; and five subcategories to examine the role of the event in stimulating community interaction and social capital. A model of sport event development explains the impact of the event development process on community relations in this rural context. Implications are discussed for managing the relationships between communities and event management organisations.     

Creating tourist experiences by interpreting places using digital guides

This article investigates the relationship between technology and narrative in digital guides for tourists in Sweden. The main finding shows that narratives in the guides are based on a naïve view of history. In several instances, content is based on odd stories and speculation. Recent social trends have led to the erosion of grand narratives and the emergence of multiple views of history. New digital guides must address these challenges in order to develop tourism products that are relevant to different market segments.     

Ultimate Fighting Championship Fans: Foundations of Subcultural Stratification

ABSTRACT

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a professional mixed martial arts league around which a subculture of fans has developed. Using a theoretical framework for the study of collectives, this study explored foundations of social stratification within UFC subculture. Multiple modes of qualitative data were collected at a major UFC event. Social stratification was perceived by UFC fans as influenced by an individual's subcultural capital, reflected by their scope and mode of involvement in the UFC subculture; displays of UFC fandom through dress; expression through specialized mixed martial arts (MMA) discourse and knowledge; strategic social media use; and conduct at MMA events. This research also highlights the importance of digital technologies and mediated communication in studying contemporary leisure-centered subcultures.     

Narratives,identity and community in esports

ABSTRACT

The commercial and social ascendance of esports has become a source of considerable organisational, industrial, experiential and identity-based concern for those inside and outside the digital gaming field. Indeed, one major concern for self-identifying ‘gamers’ around the world is the extent to which the logics of professionalisation, spectacularisation and rationalisation that pervade contemporary esports will unsettle existing identities within the gaming community. In this study, we draw upon the theories of Paul Ricoeur to provide a narratological analysis of the stories gamers tell themselves about themselves on the social media platform Reddit—and in so doing explicate the politics of inclusion and exclusion imbedded in these stories. We investigate how story-narrative is utilised to mark boundaries in rhythm with, or in opposition to, the commercial, cultural and identity politics which gamers perceive are infiltrating the online gaming field. Based on our analysis, it becomes clear that Reddit users actively use the medium to promote a dominant politics of gender- and investment-based inclusion/exclusion. We conclude with a discussion on the complexities of digital community identity and the challenges seemingly democratic media technologies such as Reddit present for those seeking to promote egalitarian and inclusive spaces of digital play.