ABSTRACT
Sports teams and events have emerged as central features in the pro-growth development initiatives undertaken by cities and regions throughout the world. Until very recently this competition for event hosting has been limited to northern and western cities, although there have been several notable exceptions, such as the Mexico City 1968 Summer Olympic Games and Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympic Games. In the past few years, cities in South Africa and Asia have hosted major sporting events and other major cities in the southern hemisphere will be hosting various world games, including the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup Final Tournament. Hosts of major sporting events often highlight an array of potential benefits for the city and/or nation. These benefits are often thought of in economic terms, including impacts such as increased employment and tourism (Hall 1992, Getz 1997); however, other benefits include an enhanced city image, new sport facilities, and improved transportation infrastructure. Infrastructure development and regeneration schemes are now strongly linked with major sporting events, as bid proponents and event organisers use these benefits to rationalise the public expenditure and to gain popular support; however, it has been argued that projected gains are often unrealised (Ritchie 1984, Crompton 1995, Mules and Faulkner 1996, MacAloon 2008). Roche (2000) identified that major sporting events combine the interests of political and business elites and the interests of multinational corporations to produce and manage the events.
