Can sports events contribute to public policy development strategies?

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Sports events are a fundamental strategic tool for the development of sports policies and can influence the social and economic dynamics of territories. This study analyses the perceptions of the local community on the social and economic impact of a set of sports events integrated into a local government-promoted sports policy intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

We applied a questionnaire to a sample of 157 residents in the host city for the sports events held under the auspices of the European City of Sport 2018 (Braga, Portugal).

Findings

The results demonstrate how the city’s residents perceive the event generated positive impacts on that region in different dimensions, specifically in terms of the city's image and social benefits. Residents also expressed satisfaction with the sports policies pursued by the municipality.

Practical implications

Sport events are crucial to the social and economic dynamics of regions and can underpin the development of sports policies. This study identifies relevant factors for decision making on future local community sports events.

Research Contribution

Our study helps managers and politicians seeking to develop a more efficient structuring of their strategies to maximise the positive impacts that sports events can generate in various territorial contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policy
• impacts
• resident perceptions
• mega events
• small events
• host city
• local communities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank to NECE – Research Unit in Business Sciences funded by the Multiannual Funding Programme of R&D Centres of FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the project “UIDB/04630/2020”.