Impact of organizing a mega sports event

Is it justified to invest huge amounts of money in organizing a mega sports event? Specially in a country like India which is suffering from poverty and inequality! What would be the impact of these events on the economy of a country? These questions were raised during the Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG2010) which was held in Delhi in October 2010. In response, it can be said that multiple benefits can be derived by hosting a mega sports event. These events play a significant role in developing sports culture in the host country by creating awareness of sports and also providing an impetus in the process of economic development of the country by developing infrastructure and creating jobs. Moreover, these mega events help the host country in rebuilding its image. Thus, the impact of hosting mega sports events is multi-fold.

1982 was a landmark year in Indian sports when India organized the Asian Games. Prior to that, hardly any emphasis had been given to sports in Public Policies. Since 1982, a gradual increase can be observed in the allocation of funds in various Five Year Plans of India for the development of sports:

Five Year Plans	Allocation (INR billion)
1980- 1985	0.27
1985- 1989	1.07
1992-1997	2.1
1997- 2002	4.73
2002- 2007	11.45
2007-2012	46.35

This process was accelerated in 2010 when India organized the Commonwealth Games.

The first step of hosting a mega sports event is to participate in the bid process and cities across the globe compete aggressively against each other to win the bid. For example, Chicago spent approximately US$ 100 million on the bidding process of 2016 Olympics while Madrid invested close to US$ 52.7 billion for the same event. Manpower investment is another important aspect of organizing these games. It is estimated that more than 150 experts worked for over 16,000 hours to prepare the bid for Madrid. So, the investment is huge. It is, therefore, important to investigate the return on these investments. In the next section of this article, we shall discuss some of the benefits that can be derived by organizing these events.

The first impact of hosting a mega sports event is the complete revamp of the infrastructure of the host city. To organize these mega sports events, massive investments are made to set up new stadiums, hotels, roads, flyovers and to upgrade the existing facilities. For example, 8 new competition venues and 26 new training centres were built to organize CWG 2010. The Indira Gandhi International Airport was modernized and the metro connectivity of the city was improved. Similar initiatives were taken during 1982 Asian Games. In this context, it is pertinent to mention that during 2004 Olympic Games, an amount of US$11.2 billion was invested to upgrade the infrastructure of Athens while US$7.8 billion was spent during 2006 FIFA World Cup, held in Germany, for upgrading the transportation system.

This infrastructural development played a crucial role in attracting further business investment. Organizing Olympic Games in 1996 has now established Atlanta on the world business map, due to which almost 1600 companies set up their base in the city. These mega sports events also provide an opportunity for direct and indirect employment which is evident from the fact that almost 1, 05, 000 jobs were created during the Sydney Olympics.

Mega sports events also help the host countries in establishing them as attractive tourist destinations. The influx of tourists in Barcelona reached at 3.5 million per year between 1990 and 1994 due to the influence of Olympic Games 1992. Increase in the number of tourists enhances the inflow of foreign capital which is an essential element for the growth of a country.

From the above discussion, it is evident that multiple benefits can be derived by organizing a mega sports event. These events enhance the social acceptability of sport and establish sports as a comprehensive career option. Despite several controversies, Indian has already proved its worth in organizing these mega events. The stage is set to host a bigger event to secure a permanent place in the global sporting map. We want another mega sports event in India which will be organized professionally with complete transparency.

Ankan Banerjee

Member of Faculty

Naval Tata Centre of Excellence in Sports Management of

IISWBM