Search Results (59)

Given that participating in or spectating sports events plays a vital role in enhancing individuals’ mental health, understanding the key factors that promote continued participation and attendance in sports events is of significant theoretical and practical importance within the context of sports tourism. From this perspective, the service quality of sports events and the image of the host destination have been identified as major determinants of sustained engagement among sports tourists. However, a review of the literature reveals that findings on the influence of sports event service quality and host destination image on the behavioral intentions of sports tourists have been inconsistent. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to employ a meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) approach to synthesize data from 39 independent studies comprising 16,335 participants, which were collected up to 30 September 2024, thereby providing generalizable conclusions. The results indicate that, first, host destination image is the most critical factor in enhancing visitor satisfaction. Additionally, the service quality of sports events significantly influences visitor satisfaction, which in turn impacts their future behavioral intentions. Second, tourist satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between event service quality and behavioral intentions, and it partially mediates the relationship between host destination image and behavioral intentions. Third, under the moderating effect of event scale (small scale vs. mega scale), host destination image and physical environment quality are more important in small-scale sports events than in mega-scale sports events. Furthermore, under the moderating effect of cultural context (Eastern vs. Western), service quality dimensions are more influential in Western cultural settings, whereas host destination image is more important in Eastern cultural settings. The significance of this study lies in its integration of previously disparate findings into a unified model, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships among the variables. The results provide broad implications for future academic research and practical insights for sports tourism practitioners. Full article

Sports events hold significant importance for host territories, influencing their economic, social, and environmental dynamics. These events generate diverse impacts that shape residents’ perceptions and subsequent support, which are crucial for ensuring long-term success. However, the study of motorsports, particularly rally events at the national championship level, remains underexplored, despite their capacity to attract tourism and foster regional development. This study adopts a quantitative approach, employing a survey of 753 responses collected during the urban track of the 2024 Sierra Morena Rally in Córdoba, Spain. Using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and non-hierarchical Cluster Analysis, residents were segmented based on their perceptions of impacts—touristic, economic, social, environmental, and urban—and their support for the event. The analysis identified three resident clusters: Reluctant Beneficiaries, Pragmatic Resigned, and Convinced Optimists. These groups exhibited varying levels of perceived positive and negative impacts, with significant differences in their support for the rally. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of resident perceptions and support for non-mega motorsports events, highlighting the importance of tailored communication strategies and anticipation of the impacts generated. This study addresses existing knowledge gaps by segmenting residents regarding their perception and support for a national-level urban rally event for the first time in the existing academic literature. Full article

“Mega-events” are characterized as expansive cultural gatherings. They include both sporting and commercial elements, and they collectively exert significant global influence and appeal. “Sporting mega-events”, in particular, represent a central component of such gatherings and serve as key expressions of national soft power on the world stage. “Soft power” encompasses practices and behaviors aimed at cultivating relational capital, and according to Nye, effective soft power strategies rely on streamlined processes and a blend of tangible and intangible resources to communicate influence, negotiate power, and achieve desired outcomes. In the context of sporting mega-events, soft power operates through cooperation and the alignment of shared interests rather than coercion, thereby appealing to international audiences, and governments therefore strategically host these events to enhance their global standing and secure diplomatic and economic benefits. Full article

The growing awareness of economic, environmental, and social issues related to tourism highlights the need to identify innovative practices that promote sustainability in tourist destinations. This study investigates mega sporting events and their fundamental role in sustainable tourism; these events contribute to tourism promotion by regenerating and revitalizing host areas. However, the increasing demand for transparency in the management of public resources, aimed at ensuring the economic sustainability of the areas hosting these events, has heightened the focus on monitoring resource allocation. Beyond the use of technological innovations, it becomes essential to study the role of innovation in promoting sustainable tourism management practices to guarantee the economic sustainability of destinations hosting major sporting events. A key tool for planning tourism promotion and ensuring economic sustainability is undoubtedly economic impact analysis. Although numerous methods are available, the integration of multiple approaches enhances both the completeness and accuracy of such evaluations. This study proposes an innovative approach that combines different methods to provide a robust approach for economic impact analysis. This research validates the proposed approach through the analysis of two prestigious cycling competitions: the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. The proposed approach enables the identification of areas where targeted investments and strategic improvements can promote sustainable and long-term economic benefits for host regions. It can support decision-making processes to plan tourism promotion and ensure economic sustainability. Full article

Background: Migrant construction workers involved in building infrastructure for mega-sporting events face elevated risks of illness and death. However, specific health outcomes for these workers have not been systematically reviewed, limiting opportunities to identify and address their challenges. Methods: This study systematically reviewed health outcomes among migrant construction workers involved in mega-sporting events. Results: 89 eligible studies involving 23,307 workers were identified. Of these, only 11 directly addressed specific health outcomes, including heat stress, occupational fatalities, and sexually transmitted infections. Notably, increased heat exposure during peak construction phases and the proximity of deadlines for mega-sporting events were correlated with elevated rates of occupational fatalities. Other key adverse factors impacting migrant construction workers’ health included an observed correlation between the timing of mega-sporting events and increased occupational fatalities, the involvement of labor recruiters, and shifting health and safety responsibilities among stakeholders (e.g., host states, event organizers, contractors, and recruitment agencies). Positive outcomes were observed when workers voluntarily engaged in non-mandatory safety activities, such as safety training programs and awareness meetings. Conclusions: There is a critical need for longitudinal and comparative studies to comprehensively examine the health of migrant workers throughout all stages of their journey, from pre-migration to return. This review underscores the urgency of prioritizing evidence-based policies that address unique health risks in this population, including mitigation of heat stress and enforcement of occupational safety standards, particularly amid construction spikes preceding mega-sporting events. Recommendations: Future research should prioritize understanding the unique health challenges faced by migrant workers to inform policy making, develop effective interventions, and implement best practices to improve their health and well-being. Full article

The Olympic Games are a sporting event and a catalyst for urban development in their host city. In this study, we utilized remote sensing and GIS techniques to examine the impact of the Olympic infrastructure on the surface temperature of urban areas. Using Landsat Series Collection 2 Tier 1 Level 2 data and cloud computing provided by Google Earth Engine (GEE), this study examines the effects of various forms of Olympic Games facility urban planning in different historical moments and location typologies, as follows: monocentric, polycentric, peripheric and clustered Olympic ring. The GEE code applies to the Olympic Games that occurred from Paris 2024 to Montreal 1976. However, this paper focuses specifically on the representative cases of Paris 2024, Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, Beijing 2008, Sydney 2000, Barcelona 1992, Seoul 1988, and Montreal 1976. The study is not only concerned with obtaining absolute land surface temperatures (LST), but rather the relative influence of mega-event infrastructures on mitigating or increasing the urban heat. As such, the locally normalized land surface temperature (NLST) was utilized for this purpose. In some cities (Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, and Barcelona), it has been determined that Olympic planning has resulted in the development of green spaces, creating “green spots” that contribute to lower-than-average temperatures. However, it should be noted that there is a significant variation in temperature within intensely built-up areas, such as Olympic villages and the surrounding areas of the Olympic stadium, which can become “hotspots.” Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that different planning typologies of Olympic infrastructure can have varying impacts on city heat islands, with the polycentric and clustered Olympic ring typologies displaying a mitigating effect. This research contributes to a cloud computing method that can be updated for future Olympic Games or adapted for other mega-events and utilizes a widely available remote sensing data source to study a specific urban planning context. Full article

This study proposes a model for the quantitative evaluation of the life-cycle carbon footprints of large sporting events and the uncertainties related to them. The model was used to analyze the case of a mega sporting event in Beijing, China. First, the quantitative model for the evaluation of the carbon footprints of mega sporting events includes a preparation stage, a holding stage, and an end stage. These stages consider the energy and resources used for construction, operation, transportation, catering, and accommodation. Second, this study proposes a prediction model using model-based and simulation-based methods to address the difficulty of obtaining traffic activity. Third, a semi-quantitative method that combines a data quality indicator and stochastic simulation is adopted for the uncertainty analysis of mega sporting events. Finally, a case study is used to indicate that the preparation stage of a mega sporting event accounts for the highest CO₂ emissions at 92.1%, followed by 7.5% in the holding stage and 0.4% in the end stage. The total life-cycle CO₂ emissions of a sustainable scenario of a mega sporting event in Beijing amount to 205,080.3 t CO_2e, and the per capita CO₂ emissions during the event’s holding stage amount to 0.26 t CO_2e/person. The uncertainty in the input parameters is 0.0617, indicating that the uncertainty of the model is low, and the reliability of the results is high. Full article

With the adoption of the concept of sustainable development, mega sports events (MSEs) are gradually aiming to be greener and to lower their carbon footprints. As such, does the hosting of MSEs provide an opportunity for urban green transformation? Taking MSEs in China as a quasi-natural experiment and using prefecture-level panel data from 2000 to 2020, we empirically explored the effects and mechanisms of MSE hosting on the green economic development in urban areas by applying a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The findings revealed that the hosting of MSEs can significantly increase the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the host city, indicating that MSEs promote the green transformation of urban areas. The results of the mechanism analysis showed that hosting MSEs promotes urban green transformation through three channels: encouraging residents to choose public transport, promoting the development of the digital economy, and upgrading of the industrial structure. In addition, the effect of hosting MSEs on green transformation is stronger in cities where the public is more concerned about the environment. We argue that host city governments should implement the concept of green sports when organizing MSEs, increase public concern about the environment, focus on the development of urban public services, and vigorously develop tertiary industries to drive urban green transformations. Full article

Sport mega-events (SMEs) remake cities as global brandscapes of leisured consumption; reliant in part upon securitization designed to create an atmosphere free from disturbance and render invisible those “abject” populations who might puncture the tourist bubble that surrounds stadia and fan-zones. Yet, such “shiny” cityspaces are not devoid of complexity, contestation, and compunction. In this paper, we draw on extensive ethnographic- and community-based participatory research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (prior to, during, and after two SMEs) collected in collaboration with sex workers, working in areas of SME intervention. Our focus is on the contingent nature of securitization amidst the contested terrains and trajectories of SME urbanism. Our analysis resonates with observations from other host cities, challenging dominant myths that the sport mega-event creates impermeable securitized cityscapes by revealing the fluid topography of formality and informality, contestation and negotiation, and oppression and power. Full article

Mega sports events generate significant media coverage and have a considerable economic impact on the host cities. Organizing such events is a complex task that requires extensive planning. The success of these events hinges on the attendees’ satisfaction. Therefore, accurately predicting the number of fans from each country is essential for the organizers to optimize planning and ensure a positive experience. This study aims to introduce a new application for machine learning in order to accurately predict the number of attendees. The model is developed using attendance data from the FIFA World Cup (FWC) Russia 2018 to forecast the FWC Qatar 2022 attendance. Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) was found to be the top-performing algorithm, achieving an R² metric of 0.633 in an Auto-Sklearn experiment that considered a total of 2523 models. After a thorough analysis of the result, it was found that team qualification has the highest impact on attendance. Other factors such as distance, number of expatriates in the host country, and socio-geopolitical factors have a considerable influence on visitor counts. Although the model produces good results, with ML it is always recommended to have more data inputs. Therefore, using previous tournament data has the potential to increase the accuracy of the results. Full article

Sport mega-events, like the Olympics, are renowned for their urban and socioeconomic impacts. Based on a literature review, this paper proposes a holistic framework for an Olympic-led sustainable planning process, encompassing five key sustainable urban principles: accessibility, integration, flexibility/adaptability, security, and sustainability compliance. The framework provides a structured approach to assess these principles at three different temporal and spatial levels: location selection, pre-event planning, and post-event planning. The proposed holistic framework is applied to the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, revealing a significant disconnection between the initially promised sustainable development goals and practical achievements. While enhancements in accessibility were observed, the other key sustainable urban principles exhibited limited or negligible improvements. The proposed holistic framework holds the potential to foster lasting positive impacts and sustainable urban improvements in host cities, particularly in developing countries. Full article

The profound impact of deep learning technology is poised to revolutionize various industries, marking the fourth industrial revolution. Thus, we combined efficiency and productivity research (data envelopment analysis, DEA), artificial intelligence and deep learning (artificial neural networks, ANN), a system integrating DEA and ANNs, and simultaneous longitudinal research (time series) to determine comprehensive research trends and create relevant applications. We addressed mega-sports events’ performance assessment systems that predict the efficiency of nations participating in the Asian Games from 1990 to 2023 and analyzed the outcomes, applying them to practical issues of national sports policies and development. Performance assessment systems to diagnose, plan, monitor, and revise the impact of implementing measures in Asian nations represent a step forward. The PAS findings point out future research recommendations by addressing national sports policies and development issues, transforming the predictions of performance assessment systems in mega-sports events into practical management recommendations. In this way, the system for enhanced predictive analytics developed in the study can rapidly analyze large, medium, and small datasets, reveal insights that humans may overlook, and refine the likelihood of predicting future events with greater precision and accuracy. Full article

Unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) are now used to support security precautions in search and rescue operations to track and evaluate critical services, to provide cybersecurity measures by transporting security supply chain management (SCM) to sports events, and to aid efforts to safeguard the spectators from attacks. A drone may quickly fly over sports grounds, scan the area for potential dangers, and offer aerial footage and still photographs. Although UAVs provide benefits to their operators, there is a possibility that they may also pose cybersecurity threats. This guide offers recommendations for best security practices, intending to assist sports operators in protecting their networks, materials, and staff for Qatar’s mega sporting events. The literature comprises several theoretical frameworks and conceptual models for security supply chains. Unfortunately, there is no practical model for measuring the behavioral intentions of professional IT and security experts. Therefore, this study conducted research in two stages. In the first stage, an in-depth systematic literature review was conducted to identify the factors and themes of UAV-based SCM for security measures. In the second phase, a survey questionnaire (N = 712) was implemented, comprising the themes and items from the literature review among professional IT and security experts. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out with IBM SPSS, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed with IBM AMOS. This study proposed and developed a UAV-based SCM model to provide security for Qatar’s mega sporting events, which comprised five factors: traceability, security and privacy, trust, acceptability, and preparedness. This study also confirmed the validity and reliability of the newly developed scales, offering practical and proposed implications for the IT and security industries. The key findings of the study are: (1) a valid and reliable UAV-based cybersecurity framework for FIFA mega sporting events was developed; (2) five critical factors were identified, including traceability, security and privacy, trust, acceptability, and preparedness; (3) all factors were significantly and positively correlated, highlighting the complexity of managing security systems in mega sporting events. Full article

Mega sports events may encounter safety and security challenges related to risk management issues such as overcrowding, disorderly behavior, assaults, and security breaches. An incident during the Champions League Final in France in 2022 serves as an example of such challenges. Therefore, this study focuses specifically on the Champions League Final in France, 2022, and presents a situational scenario analysis for safety and security professionals. The objective is to enhance situational awareness and improve risk management strategies for similar events. The study commences by investigating the awareness among security and safety professionals regarding the potential consequences of mega sporting events, utilizing a post-hoc damage evaluation of France ’22. It then compares the effectiveness of fixed and drone cameras in surveillance imaging, aiming to identify ways to enhance situational analysis for improved risk management. The findings indicate that safety and security professionals acknowledged the negative outcomes of adverse events and demonstrated higher situational awareness when using drone surveillance as opposed to relying solely on fixed cameras. They also expressed positive attitudes towards the adoption of surveillance for mega sporting events. Moreover, the study introduces a model for drone surveillance scenario analysis, designed for dynamic decision-making. This model has been developed and aligned to effectively integrate drone surveillance and enhance situational awareness, not only for mega sports events but also for similar applications in various contexts. This research contributes to the understanding of risk management and situational awareness in the realm of mega sports events. It underscores the significance of drone surveillance and proposes strategies to enhance security professionals’ ability to respond effectively to potential threats, ensuring the safety of participants and spectators. Full article

Environmental sustainability (ES) has generally become an important topic in recent years. In this context, interest in the environmental impact of sport events has also considerably grown. However, not much is known about how people currently perceive ES in mega sport events (MSEs) and if this influences their support to stage a MSE in their home country. To shed light on this question, a survey was conducted in Germany, which resulted in a sample of 917 respondents. The data show that about one-third of them think that ES is adequately implemented in the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup. Around half of the respondents state they are in favour of hosting these events in Germany in the future and multinomial logistic regressions reveal that positive and negative perceptions of the ES of the events are important predictors of support and opposition. The same is true for the perception of the overall brand image of the event. The findings have important implications for future bidding processes because they show that the further development of ES in MSEs might have an influence on the support for hosting these events in Germany and potentially other Western democracies. Full article