ABSTRACT
Is the financial and social cost of hosting Sporting Mega Events “worth it?” Were the motives for Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup and other SMEs primarily international? How has Russia’s recent embrace of sport changed its society? This chapter argues that, contra prevailing explanations of state motivations for hosting SMEs, that there were enormous benefits to Russian society as a result of the embrace of sport. Using a variety of source, it argues that sport has positive social externalities in terms of health, community building, volunteers, and entertainment. It then compares the role of sport in modern Russia versus the Soviet Union and concludes by suggesting that the embrace of sport has changed Russian society for good. Furthermore, the enthusiasm and excitement created by hosting SMEs in the country played an important role in making this change, thus offering a putative rationale for hosting them in the first place. Theories that concentrate solely on the soft power dimension of sporting events need to consider other motivations as well.
