‘Race’, sport and leisure: lessons from critical race theory

This paper presents and explores critical race theory (CRT) as an ontological starting point for the study of sport and leisure. CRT is based on five precepts outlined by Solorzano and Yosso that centre ‘race’ and racism, social justice, plurivocality, transdisciplinarity and challenge orthodoxies. There have been a number of recent criticisms and debates amongst leisure and sports studies writers that challenge their general focus of study as narrow and myopic. The five precepts have been fundamental to radical shifts in critical legal studies over the past fifteen years and have significance for the development of critical sport and leisure theory. CRT and ‘race’ critical perspectives are drawn out, clarified and their mutual agendas focussed. It is argued here that researchers and writers need urgently to centralize ‘race’ and racism as core factors in the study of social relations in sport if Birrell's optimism in the development of sport (and leisure) theory is to be realised.     

Approaching paradox: Loving and hating mega-events

This paper examines the role of paradoxes in research and proposes strategies of engaging with them. For this purpose, it analyses the ways in which six paradoxes are constitutive of sports mega-events such as the Olympic Games: the universalism paradox, the compliance paradox, the winner's paradox, the participation paradox, the uniqueness paradox and the passion paradox. It then develops three strategies of how researchers and practitioners can approach paradox. The first, exploration, examines the consequences and effects of the ambiguity of paradoxes. The second, differentiation, enquires into the spatio-temporal and social make-up of paradoxes. The third, reframing, recasts paradoxes by shifting theoretical perspectives. Instead of pressing to resolve paradoxes, researchers and practitioners alike should make productive use of their ambiguity.     

Watching the FIFA World Cup 2010 in England: the sojourner perspective

Recent years have seen an emergence of a varied academic literature focused on the football fan, with a wealth of studies exploring issues such as hooliganism, fan behaviour and fan identification. No research, however, has documented the experiences and perspectives of the international sojourner, who follows the televised tournament far away from the home country. This paper offers a contribution to the literature on fandom by focusing on the experiences of becoming a temporary fan among a sample of nine international students in England during the period of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It shows the importance of the tournament for students away from their home nation, acting as a point of celebration and as a means of bringing sojourners of the same nationality together to support their team. It reveals how the tournament offered escape from stress, became a focal point for social interaction, provided the opportunity for recreation of home, and for the reinforcement of feelings of national identity.     

国内外奥运旅游研究进展综述

自公元前776年举办第一届古代奥运会以来,旅游与奥运会便形影相随.随着现代人类休闲时间的增多与经济承受力的增强,作为大型事件的奥运会吸引了越来越多的旅游者观光游览,同时也受到旅游学术界越来越多的关注.本文以奥运旅游的起源、奥运旅游的定义与特点出发,从奥运旅游研究历史、吸引物研究、市场特征研究、经济社会影响研究等多方面对国内外奥运旅游研究进行了总结.     

The Impact of a Sport Mega-Event on Destination Image

Abstract

There is intense competition to host sports mega-events as cities and countries perceive that doing so will enhance their global image and make the destination more attractive to future tourists. Is there empirical evidence to prove that hosting a mega sport event really does stimulate international visitation and enhance the destination's image? In this paper we investigate this question in relation to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. To this end, 412 foreign tourists were surveyed during the World Cup about their image of South Korea. Differences in demographics, motive and perceptions between tourists travelling specifically for the World Cup, and those coming to South Korea for non-World Cup-related reasons, are noted. The study provides a baseline dataset from which future research on megasports events can build.     

重大节事的经济效应实证研究——以北京奥运会的市场反应为切入点

文章基于公司层面,以北京奥运会为例研究了重大节事的经济效应;采用事件研究法和趋势分析法,选择奥运板块上市公司为研究样本,实证检验了奥运会这一重大节事的短期与长期经济效应。研究发现,从短期来看,申奥成功事件具有显著的经济刺激效应;从长期来看,奥运筹备期间体现出一定的财富积累效应。总体上来说,研究证实,北京奥运会的经济影响在微观层面是有限的,这一结论适用于经济总量较大情况下重大节事的经济影响评价,对于重大节事的管理与参与有一定的借鉴意义。     

Why travel to the FIFA World Cup? Effects of motives, background, interest, and constraints

Events have become a significant component of destination marketing. Previous work suggests that event interest, risk constraint, and financial constraint will affect potential attendees’ desire to attend and their sense that it is feasible to attend. For large sport events, interest in the event and perceived constraints should derive from the level of fan motives, travel motivations, and the potential attendee's background. These expectations are tested in a survey of 556 members of American soccer clubs prior to the FIFA World Cup. Results were generally consistent with expectations, although some motives had both positive and negative effects. Event interest and constraints fully mediated the effects of motives and background on respondents’ sense that it was feasible for them to attend. Financial constraint did not affect desire to attend. The desire to learn about the host country had direct effects on interest in the event and the desire to attend the event. Results suggest the value of segmented sport event marketing that appeals to both travel and fan motives.     

Residents’ perceptions of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

This study examines the perceptions of local residents prior to the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games. A survey conducted amongst residents, 5 months prior to the Games opening, reveals a lower level of support for the Games during the preparation period compared to other Olympic host cities. Socio-demographic data about the residents help explain the varying attitudes towards the Games that were identified. The conclusions suggest that Sochi residents’ perceptions have been largely influenced by their thoughts regarding potential economic and socio-cultural impacts, whether positive or negative. When these opinions are analysed further, three main considerations were found: (1) impacts on urban development and quality of residential life; (2) positive impacts on tourism and the destination’s economy and (3) negative results of hosting the Games. The study also finds, using structural equation modelling, that residents of Sochi, who could receive some benefit from the Games, were involved in the decision-making process or had more information about the upcoming Games, demonstrated more positive attitudes towards hosting the Olympics.     

The impact of mega-sport events on tourist arrivals

While a mega-sport event is scheduled at least once every year somewhere in the world, these events are rare occurrences for the host cities and countries. The benefits of such events seem lucrative; the very fact that many countries bid to host these events suggests that the benefits – be they tangible or intangible – more often than not outweigh the costs. Using a standard gravity model of bilateral tourism flows between 200 countries from 1995 to 2006, this paper measures a very direct benefit of such mega-events: the increase in tourist arrivals to the host country. In general, the results suggest that mega-sport events promote tourism but the gain varies depending on the type of mega-event, the participating countries and whether the event is held during the peak season or off-season.     

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.     

北京居民对2008奥运会影响的态度和看法

通过时1165名北京居民的电话调查分析其对2008奥运会影响的态度和看法,本文验证发展出4个方面的(社会心理、社会生活、城市发展、经济发展)20条具体盛事影响的条目.另外,依照对奥运影响的看法,居民被分为两个组群:积极派和中间派.一些影响居民组群归属的固定变量得以确认.调查结果建议在奥运规划准备过程中更多了解当地居民的意见将有助于取得奥运会的全面成功.     

A framework for monitoring during the planning stage for a sports mega-event

This paper proposes a monitoring framework to be used during the planning stage for a sports mega-event. The research identifies a lack of monitoring and evaluation studies during the development stage for sports mega-events. Importantly, it notes the absence of research which evaluates an event systematically from the outset of the process and from the perspectives of host residents and event planners. The framework was developed on the basis of the philosophical approach of pragmatism; it focused on a sustainable development perspective, and it was applied to a case study of the Kaohsiung 2009 World Games. A survey of the views of 606 host residents about the potential impacts of the event revealed that the respondents tended to show higher levels of agreement on the host benefits. The results of 38 interviews with various stakeholders indicated big gaps in both the city's long-term development aspirations and the Games themselves and also in the event strategies adopted. Using this information, key sustainability issues can be identified and monitored during the event planning stage so that the desirable outcomes of events can be enhanced and then sustained in the longer term.     

‘I just hope people can forgive me’: Australian women athletes,apologies and image restoration at the Rio Olympic Games

Prior to the 2016 Olympic Games, Australia’s Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller predicted that the Australian team could win as many as 16 Olympic gold medals. Australia’s Olympic team won a total of eight gold medals and the sports media reacted by suggesting the team had ‘failed’. At the 2016 Olympic Games, three high-profile Australian female athletes apologised to the Australian public for their performances. This study examines these three interconnecting cases and how such behaviour is linked to research that examines sports media and gender (including female agency), ‘image restoration’ and third-wave feminism. Additionally, this work identifies how the culture of third-wave feminism is conceptually troubled by the notion of the ‘female apologetic’ and calls for a re-examination and modification of such a notion.