Sports Mega Events and the BRICS Economies: A Brief Historical Overview

Abstract

This paper provides an historical overview of the involvement of BRICS nations in hosting sports mega-events since 1990. It draws upon published studies to `generalise about how the hosting experience affected the BRICS economies. A survey of bidding for some mega-events shows that BRICS nations were keen to hold them, especially when there was a change in hosting policy which encouraged developing nations to apply. Indeed it can be suggested that regular bidding built the events into BRICS nations development strategies in which hosting a sporting mega-event both demonstrated that the nations had developed sufficiently to spare the resources for such prestigious entertainments but also was a way of boosting further development through infrastructure improvements and the encouragement of tourism. Certainly many city politicians and influencers saw hosting a mega-event as a key to urban regeneration and modernisation. In most cases the events were sporting successes, but the economic story was one of exaggerated pre-event claims of potential benefits and seriously underestimated costs. A major issue was the lower level of the infrastructural base from which BRICS countries started compared to more developed economies. The funding of sporting mega events meant that resources had to be diverted from possible alternative uses such as health, education and housing.