Abstract des Autors

What used to be called sports events have today developed into ”Mega Sports Events” and, in line with this development, new approaches for research within the field of sports sciences, widely understood, have appeared. The Olympic Games and the football World Cup have shown the way as more and more sports events aim for the stars. It has been called gigantism, less frequently megalomania, the result of the noble contest between organizing cities or countries, of ever trumping one’s predecessor in grandeur and everything else concerning the event in question. But needless to say, there is more to this than simple competition between events. Large-scale sports events – and not only the largest – have significant impact for the organizers, both in the long and the short run, even though they last only for a week or two. In addition, the largest events are enormously expensive to arrange, but in return bring global media exposure with effects and a value that cannot be achieved in any other way. What are the deliberations behind the decision to bid for a large sports event? What should the revenue be in order to legitimise substantial public investments, when resources are scarce and social and other needs acute? The title of the author’s article holds the answer: Investments in a sports event has to bring positive effects for the city/country/population, effects that last much longer than the event itself. Such effects can, among other things, be short term financial profit re-invested for long term benefits; investments in infrastructure that last long after the competitions and contribute to enhancement of local productivity; effects of advertising for the city/country as a tourist destination, not only for sports tourists. The author explains how these positive effects are achieved – while the negative are avoided. This article also offers a substantial list of relevant literature on these issues.