ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on sport event owners and issues related to their main stakeholders. It provides a discussion of the very meaning of event ownership. The chapter reviews the little research that does exist regarding sports event ownership and draws on research and theory building from the festivals literature and other areas (e.g. marketing and risk management) in order to bolster the information presented. It explores the nature of stakeholder relationship management and legitimacy building. Two case studies illustrate these topics, the first being a private, for-profit event company, and the second case covering an event sanctioned by a governing body. In each of these cases, a conceptual framework is presented which helps us to understand the complexity of stakeholder types and relationships with the event owner. The chapter presents a number of research questions, related to the key issues of ownership, stakeholders, power, and legitimacy, so that the research on event owners can be developed.
