Social leverage of sporting mega-events and co-production. The case study of Orlik facilities in Poland after EURO 2012

ABSTRACT

This study analyses the process of social leveraging of UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland for sports participation through a case study of Orlik facilities. It identifies new arrangements in the governance of the facilities that are based on the co-production of amateur sports offer in a polycentric nested system. This novel bottom-up approach brought results in terms of increased participation in the facilities. The analysis is based on a case study of Orliks over a period of eight years, from 2011 until 2018. The main method was ethnography consisting of open-ended semi-structured interviews and participant observation. This study connects the notions of legacy and leverage of mega-events with Elinor Ostrom’s concept of co-production. The analysis supports earlier findings on the legacy of mega-events in terms of sport participation which discussed the advantages of bottom-up, local approaches in comparison to centrally planned programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Sporting mega-events
• legacy
• leverage
• co-production
• sports participation

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge funding for this project received from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Social Sciences in Warsaw. I want to particularly thank Dr Anne Holohan for her insights on the article and Dr Waleed Serhan for his remarks. Big thanks go to my research participants, and especially Monika Chabior and Aleksandra Gołdys, for their understanding and constant availability. I also want to express my gratitude to the reviewers whose constructive feedback allowed me to improve the text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.