ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the population’s perceptions about sports mega-events. First, we explore the assessment of inhabitants from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo about the impact of the 2016 Games. Interviews tracked the same individuals across time before and after the Games, encompassing four types of questions: (1) the degree of satisfaction with the investments, (2) the expected impact of the Olympics on people’s lives, (3) the change in the city’s image and (4) the Games’ legacy for the city of Rio and Brazil. Second, we carry out a global meta-analysis of the population’s perceptions in countries that hosted the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Regional Games and World Cups between 2006 and 2018 based on Gallup World Poll. We highlight Brazil’s sharp transformations of these subjective indicators during the Olympic cycle. Finally, we study the causes of the major 2013 street demonstrations during the FIFA’s Confederations Cup using longitudinal microdata on a national scale. This laboratory throws light on the key role of social networks, inequality and corruption in the connection between perceptions and protests.
