ABSTRACT
The highly commercially successful sports such as tennis, golf, American football, soccer, basketball and rugby union are, in some countries, able to organise domestic and international sports events relatively independently of government. This chapter examines the increasingly central role of government in the successful bidding for and delivery of a range of large- to medium-scale sport events. It outlines the main functions that governments fulfil in relation to major sports events. The chapter provides a brief discussion of the factors that have led to increased involvement of governments and an examination of the network of relationships within which governments operate in connection with major sports events. Following the outline and discussion of the application of the multiple streams analytic framework, the motives for government involvement in sports events are explored drawing upon examples from a range of countries, but mainly the United Kingdom, Taiwan and South Korea.
