ABSTRACT

With specific reference to the summer Olympiad to be held in London in 2012, this chapter unpacks some of the difficulties that occur when mega-event policy is transferred, often uncritically from city to city and nation to nation. It presents the context of ongoing political science debates regarding the efficiency and efficacy of 'policy transfer', especially within recent and contemporary UK sports policy context. The chapter explores a stream of work around the positive and negative implications of sporting mega-project construction and mega-event hosting. It focuses upon how a number of paradoxes have emerged though attempts to deliver a sustainable summer Olympiad which highlight a number of shortcomings in the adopted 'policy model', especially with regard to financial and democratic accountability, and the likelihood of regeneration activities that benefits local people. It concludes by questioning why city and state leaders are still keen to bid to host major sporting events given the financial (and other) risks involved.