ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at both the phenomena of sporting spectacles and mega-events, and at the sites at which they are enacted. International sporting spectacles, such as the Olympics and the FIFA men's and women's World Cups, are illustrative of the interconnections between the media, commercial investment, and sporting identifications that are deeply implicated in particular spaces. They also demonstrate the connections and relationalities between sporting practices, their representations, and the architecture of sporting spaces and places. The chapter concludes with a commentary and questions concerning the relationship between sporting mega-events and the more routinised sporting activities and practices of the national and local sport culture.
