Event Owners Research Articles

Organizational Learning Diffusion Processes In Multiple Host Alliances: A Multiple Case Study of 11 Co-hosted Events

This research aims to find out how alliance members influence each other in multiple host alliances. We aim to do so through an organizational learning perspective by studying organizational learning diffusion mechanisms, the level of learning diffused, and interfirm diversity factors affecting these processes. The data were collected from 11 co-hosted monosport events using two sources: semi-structured interviews (n=28) and archives. The results demonstrated that the alliance members received high levels of learning through mimetic diffusion mechanisms in those partnerships where there is a high degree of dissimilar skills. Future co-hosts should focus on building the right match considering their level of skills and their interfirm differences that are conducive to learning. The event owners need to be sensitive to how their coping mechanisms affect these processes and what their potential new role can be vis-à-vis these types of alliances.

Redefining the game: Principal-agent dynamics in sports event management during the COVID-19 pandemic era

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on sports events management from a Principal-Agent (PA) Theory perspective. By applying the known elements of the PA-relationship to sports events organized during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts (n = 15) from both the event owners and managers sides were interviewed, examining perspectives on the pandemics impacts on operations, relationships, and interactions between these two main actors. Results suggest while unique operational challenges in staging events during the height of the pandemic were experienced, positive outcomes in areas such as PA-communication, collaboration, operational efficiencies, and acceptance of digitization advancements were also seen. The results also indicate lessons learned that can be carried forward into the future. In applying the PA-Theory from economics to sports events, practical and scientific contributions are provided by examining the impacts of extended crisis on the PA-Relationship in sports events in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Embedding Child Rights Principles and Practises in Mega Sport Event Planning.

Recently, there has been growing concern about the lack of intentionality of mega sport event (MSE) organisers in ensuring that child rights are adequately respected, protected and promoted before, during, and after the events take place. In the context of the summer Olympic Games, reported child rights infringements have been on the rise, both in relation to abuse in sport itself and the negative consequences associated with planning and delivering the Games. In response to reports of child rights infringements, a coalition of actors, including non-governmental and civil society organisations have sought to pressure event owners and organisers to strengthen protections in the planning and delivery of their events. To date, however, child rights commitments have not been fully embedded in policies and principles guiding the planning and delivery of the Olympic Games. In this article, we explore the field of child rights in the context of the Olympic Games, focusing on a case study of the Tokyo 2020 edition. Drawing on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with Tokyo 2020 stakeholders and affiliates, detailed appraisal of the planning process was undertaken. Findings show that while the Japanese authorities have signed up to international child rights conventions and embedded some child participation strategies in Games-related activity, there was little evidence that Tokyo 2020 organisers had developed or implemented robust policies, principles or practises to respect, protect and promote child rights in Games planning. This absence, we argue, is because there was no requirement to embed child rights commitments during the bidding or planning phases, as the IOC had yet to enshrine human rights in its host city contract when the Games were first awarded to Tokyo. In conclusion, we argue that it is imperative the IOC embeds child rights principles and protocols in the bidding and planning processes to ensure that the risks to children are foregrounded and acted upon by host cities and their partners, elevating human rights to a position equal to other Games requirements. This study is of international significance as the evidence will aid future host city bidders to ensure children's rights are embedded in MSE policies for each nation.

Event owners’ rights to sports data and its commercialization in fantasy sports: illustrated by the licensing schemes of the Bundesliga

Event owners’ rights to sports data and its commercialization in fantasy sports: illustrated by the licensing schemes of the Bundesliga

Balancing value and risk within a city's event portfolio: an explorative study of DMO professionals' assessments

PurposeThis study aims to advance both theory and praxis for event portfolio management in cities and destinations. An experiment has been conducted with professional event practitioners in a city to determine their opinions and strategies for balancing value and risk within their event portfolio. The first objective is to rank 14 of the city's recurring events in terms of both value and risk. Second, the events are plotted in a two-dimensional chart of value versus risk with the objective to differentiate between the 14 events. The third objective is to describe the event characteristics that event professionals associate with value and risk.Design/methodology/approachResults derive from an experiment involving the forced Q-sort procedure and professional event managers from a city renowned as an “event capital”. Empirical evidence is analysed by the constant comparative method of how events are being evaluated by ten professionals working for a DMO.FindingsEconomic impact and image effects are characteristics of high-value events as is an opportunity to create relations with event owners for future collaboration. Local community involvement is important for all events. The issue of portfolio fit was a common argument for weak-value events.Research limitations/implicationsResults are based on the opinions of ten DMO employees in one large city. Conclusions help build event portfolio theory.Practical implicationsThe results and methods are useful for event strategists and evaluators. In particular, the management of event portfolios and policies covering events in cities and destinations can benefit from the documented method for explicitly balancing risks with perceived value.Social implicationsA portfolio perspective is also suggested as an approach to analyse the total tourist attractions portfolio of a destination.Originality/valueOpinions regarding public value and risk by civil servants who work with events have not been studied before. The constant comparative method produces results that can be applied to policies governing events. In terms of theory development, concepts from financial portfolio management, product portfolio management and risk management are used to develop event portfolio design and management, and insights are gained on trade-offs in the process. The plot of the events in a two-dimensional chart of value versus risk clearly differentiated the 14 events and is an original contribution.

Sustainable tourism in sport with emphasis on spectators' contribution in environmental preservation

Purpose: examination the sustainable tourism in sport with emphasis on spectators' contribution in environmental preservation.
 Material and methods. The population of the study consisted of all sports spectators of 27th Fajr Open and Esteghlal vs Tractor rematch from 15th Persian Gulf Pro League. According to Kukran formula sample size was equal to 722 persons. 920 questionnaires distributed among population that 722questionnaires were analyzed .In order to collect data a self-made questionnaire was used which it's validity confirmed by 5 sports teachers of Razi and Tehran university and variables reliability was calculated by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient which was equal to 0.89. Data analysis done by using the descriptive and inferential statistics include Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Pearson correlation, path analysis of structural equations, Regression and also AMOS-21 and SPSS-22. The results showed that environmental communication should be formed within the right framework, encourage people to Environmentally Responsible Behavior through a bonus is not necessarily effective and doesn't encourage sports spectator.
 Results. Result showed that spectators display more cooperation through targeting for enjoyment and are sensitive toward any perceived cost in the implementation of Environmentally Responsible Behavior. The result also showed if cooperation with Environmental Management System doesn't take too much time and totally doesn't interfere with their enjoyment of watching match, they will support it automatically. The results also suggest the need to design efficient equipment to ensure ease of use and as a result reducing the perceived cost associated with Environmentally Responsible Behavior.
 Conclusion. Sports event owners can encourage spectators to do the Environmentally Responsible Behavior by connecting with them and also induce this fact to spectators that associate with the event can assist them to experience higher quality events in the future.

An Exploratory Study of "Best Practice" in Environmentally Sustainable Event Management in Australian Public Events

This study seeks to provide insights into "best practice" in the area of environmentally sustainable event management in Australian public events. In performing this role, it aims to: determine forces acting to drive engagement with environmental management practices; identify the key challenges event owners and managers face in seeking to adopt such practices; determine types of environmentally sustainable practices currently in use; establish how events are measuring their environmental performance; and identify those factors serving to facilitate or inhibit engagement by events with an environmental agenda. The article begins with a literature review of research germane to the study, along with an overview of the methodology employed. Key findings emerging from the application of this methodology suggest that actions in this area: have increasingly become an aspect of overall event planning; target multiple areas with the potential to generate environmental impacts; are driven primarily by organizer values and attendee and community expectations; and face constraints linked largely to the availability of resources, expertise, and time. This article acknowledges that the planning and delivery of environmentally sustainable events has become one of the critical challenges facing public event management, and as such it seeks to make a meaningful contribution to both the growing academic literature in this area, and equally importantly, to industry practice.

Sport mega-events, the ‘non-West’ and the ethics of event hosting

Events and sports events are perceived as having the potential to contribute to a number of benefits for the host country and its communities. The socio-political and economic environment of the host is an important consideration for both prospective hosts and event owners when allocating hosting rights. It is therefore, unsurprising that concerns have been raised over the relatively recent relocation of events to developing countries which, by their nature, frequently lack the economic, political and social stability of the traditional industrialized host. Developing nations are less affluent and arguably less prepared to deliver large scale sports events than developed nations. Therefore, this paper asks, ‘are governing bodies, when equipped with this knowledge, ethically obliged to withhold hosting rights from developing countries?’ The paper argues that denying sovereign States the right to make their own decisions would appear to compound the disadvantaged status of countries that mega-event hosting is perceived to address. The paper contends that event hosts – particularly those in the developing world – are potentially vulnerable to exploitation by the event owner.

Ambush Marketing Is Dead, Long Live Ambush Marketing

ABSTRACT Ambush marketing is more than 30 years old, and its prevalence continues to grow. Recent cases indicate that brands perpetrating ambushes are becoming more creative, but the literature has failed to keep pace, offering scant analysis of the different forms ambushing can take, and the implications it can have and little investigation or consideration from the ambusher9s perspective. This study proposes a new definition of ambushing and typology of three types of ambush marketing strategy: incursion, obtrusion, and association. Each type is defined and explored, and the significance and implications for sponsors, event owners, and ambushers are examined, providing new insight into the nature and impact of ambushing for industry stakeholders.

Policy pragmatism: Qatar and the global events circuit

PurposeThe paper aims to give an interesting insight into the rise in event bidding and delivery of sports mega‐events from Qatar and the Middle East. This paper seeks to examine the shift in government policies and citizen relationships in the Middle East and Gulf Region, focusing on the specific case of Qatar from its staging of the 15th Asian Games in 2006 to present.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with an overview of the main literature on the importance of sport events as a vehicle for securing global profile for cities and nations. The paper draws upon the authors' participation at the 15th Asian Games and interviews conducted there and latterly, desk‐based research involving scrutiny of Qatar's recent policy pronouncements and published materials pertaining to sporting events in the intervening period since the 2006 Games.FindingsThe findings are presented in the form of a case study, using the Asian Games as a starting point and finishing with Qatar's latest bids for sporting mega‐events. The paper presents a conceptual analysis of the situation in Doha and reveals a ten‐year strategy from Qatar to set itself apart from its neighbors in bidding to host mega‐sporting events and in its progress in terms of civil rights for women. This has allowed wider participation in sport and ensured Qatar can bid for the most prestigious global sporting events.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper adds to the wider public policy discussion and contributes to the body of knowledge in this area. The authors have written extensively on events policy but believe issues of democracy versus ruling states, emotional bidding and awarding to such states will continue to rise over the coming years and these have significant implications for both event owners in awarding such bids but also for policy makers in legitimizing bidding for such events in this context.Originality/valueThe paper reveals that the currency of awarding events to countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America is politically and socially important and of major interest to both the public and academics at present.

To ambush or not to ambush - stemming the tide of ambush marketing in the FIFA 2010 World CupTM : A theoretical review

The growth in ambush marketing is not a new phenomenon. Ambush marketing has arisen as an important feature within the Olympic Games landscape and has since become a prominent feature of all major international sport events. Ambush marketing is a planned effort (campaign) by an organization to associate itself indirectly with an event in order to gain at least some of the recognition and benefits that are associated with being an official sponsor. FIFA is at pains to ensure that the goodwill and reputation associated with the event is not open to abuse and the interest of official sponsors is not undermined by ambush marketing. This article examines sport sponsorships, ambush marketing definitions, incidence of ambush marketing tactics in the past, and steps undertaken in terms of sponsorship protection in stemming the tide of ambush marketers in the FIFA 2010 World CupTM to be hosted in South Africa. Recommendations for controlling ambush tactics are discussed. Whilst various amendments to legislation have been implemented in South Africa to control ambush marketing, the creative use of ambush tactics may still exist and be a source of irritation to event owners and their official sponsors.Key words: Ambush marketing, sponsorships, FIFA, LOC, official sponsors, event organisers.

Wind Loads for Temporary Structures: Making the Case for Industrywide Standards

Engineers are well versed in designing and building structures to comply with applicable codes. But one crucial area where we lack definitive regulatory guidance is for temporary structures. Engineers constantly ask themselves the question, Is this structure as safe, as wind-resistant, and as cost-effective as we can make it? Local building codes, preferences of the equipment owner, and the engineer’s own professional judgment all factor into the equation, but we need more than an ad hoc system for determining wind-load thresholds for all types of temporary structures. We need industrywide standards that not only govern the safety of these structures, but also balance costs with safety benefits. Temporary structures encompass a wide range of items such as concert and theatrical stages, tents, public art projects, temporary roofs and shade structures, lighting and speaker towers, temporary grandstands and bleachers, and many other facilities. Some building codes require temporary structures to comply with the wind-load guidelines applied to permanent buildings, and others leave this to the discretion of the building official. Accordingly, engineers are designing temporary structures to be strong enough to withstand once-a-century hurricanes when in fact these structures will be used for only a short period—sometimes just a day or two. If a hurricane were approaching, though, you would not erect a temporary structure, nor would you have it sheltering people during a heavy storm. In fact, strong winds would likely keep people away from the event altogether and may well prompt event owners to cancel or postpone the event. In any case, the most these structures are likely to face is a thunderstorm, but absent other guidelines, the building codes apparently require us to design for hurricanes, which needlessly drives up costs without increasing safety. Building codes define the design loads that structures are subject to in a gamut of environmental conditions—wind, rain, snow, varying temperatures, or earthquake. For wind loads, nearly all states and municipalities have adopted codes that incorporate ASCE 7, which sets parameters for minimum design loads on buildings. Most building codes, however, do not specify requirements for temporary structures, whose lifespan ranges from one day to several months. IBC 2006 states that structures erected for less than 180 days as temporary, but does not provide further guidance. Engineers may then look to another standard, ASCE 37, which addresses design loads on permanent structures under construction—short term, similar to temporary structures. ASCE 37 incorporates provisions for adjusting wind loads to lower them for short-term exposure during construction for up to five years, which is relevant here because temporary structures typically are erected for six weeks or less. Based on this standard, the wind load applied to a structure under construction for less

Key success factors in bidding for hallmark sporting events

Hallmark sporting events often are commercially driven entertainment entities which represent an economically important part of the overall sport industry. Because of the high popularity of international sporting contests, hallmark sporting events attract significant commercial, media and consumer attention. Cities around the world are beginning to understand the potential of using these events to draw attention to the host city, which is why the market for hallmark sporting events is becoming increasingly competitive. In order to award the hosting of the event to the most suitable organizer, event owners often require potential hosts to bid. The most important elements in this process have been largely based on logical assumptions rather than empirical data. This study focused on the bid process in order to ascertain the important elements essential in achieving a successful bid. Using an international sample of 135 event owners and organizers, principal components analysis delivered eight factors that were deemed critical in the process of bidding for hallmark sporting events. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research along with their managerial implications.

Ambush marketing – ‘An Olympic event’

Sponsorship has outperformed all other marketing communication tools in terms of growth throughout the 1990s. The Olympic Games with its huge audience is perhaps the premier place for companies to showcase their brand(s). But an increasing number of corporate contestants find themselves in a gruelling strugle against ambush marketing attempts by their competitors. Ambush marketing is a growing option that has emerged on the heels of the rising costs for securing sponsorship rights. As sponsorship fees demanded by event owners increase, more marketers find the asking price to be outside the reach of their budgets and are forced to look for communication alternatives. Companies that cannot afford to buy sponsorship, or choose not to, may be attracted to an ‘ambush’ strategy for defensive as well as offensive reasons. Ambush marketing represents a way to try to blunt and perhaps even neutralise their competitor's investment. Especially when the official sponsor is non-vigilant, there is growing case evidence of ambush marketing succeeding. So companies buying official sponsorships need to have a strong marketing plan for leveraging their sponsorship investments to minimise any windows of opportunity for would-be ambushers. To the extent that ambush marketing succeeds, it not only defeats the sponsoring company but also risks devaluing the future of corporate sponsorship of events. The Sydney 2000 Olympiad is the battleground for the next major war between sponsors and ambush marketers. The outcome will be important not only to competitors and sponsors but also to the marketing industry as a whole.

Sports Sponsorship Evaluation: A Behavioural Analysis

Keywords: Sponsorship, Behavioural Measures, Evaluation, Behaviour Modification Executive Summary Investment in sponsorship has increased dramatically over the past decade, a growth that shows every sign of continuing in the foreseeable future. Researchers are generally in agreement that sponsorship can increase consumers' awareness of a brand or an institution, and can improve knowledge of the relationship between a brand and a sponsored event. Yet although managers are arguably more interested in the behavioural consequences of sponsorship, comparatively few researchers have examined this question. Instead, managers have assumed awareness and image measures bear a strong and direct relationship with behaviour, although the evidence in support of this view is arguably tenuous. This paper outlines an alternative to the cognitive paradigm that has dominated advertising and sponsorship practice and research: the Behaviour Modification Perspective. Based on the twin notions of respondent and operant conditioning, the Behaviour Modification Perspective provides a framework for viewing sponsorship in two ways. First, respondent conditioning pairs an event or a team with a brand, facilitating transferral of the former's characteristics to the latter. Second, operant conditioning views sponsorship as a reinforcer, or reward, of existing purchase behaviour; serving to maintain patterns of behaviour in an established market. This more general theory of Consumer Behaviour is related specifically to promotion in Ehrenberg's Awareness-Trial-Reinforcement model, which represents a possible framework for managing or evaluating sponsorship. This model was thus used as the basis of a pilot study designed to examine how well the framework could explain the effect of sponsorship on consumers' behaviour. A sample of respondents drawn from a pool of contestants to a sponsorship-related competition was compared to a sample who had not been exposed to the event. As predicted, the results suggested that awareness of the sponsor was higher among users of the sponsor's product. When respondents were asked to indicate whether they would buy the sponsored brand or competing brands if they were making a purchase in this product category, their responses did not vary significantly across exposure to the sponsoring event or recall of the sponsor These findings suggest the sponsorship did not move respondents along the continuum to purchase behaviour, but rather reinforced the sponsored brand's place in the overall market structure. The consistency between these results and the ATR model suggests managers could make greater use of behavioural goals (rather than of the intermediaries assumed to lead to these). Furthermore, our findings suggest that specific calls to action such as those used in direct marketing or cause-related marketing could also be incorporated to enable more specific evaluations, and to ensure that managers can, finally, begin to appreciate the behavioural consequences of their sponsorship investments. Introduction The growth in sponsorship expenditure, both in real terms and as a proportion of promotion budgets, has been well-documented (see Meenaghan, 1988; Meenaghan & Shipley, 1999, for example). Otker (1988) and Meenaghan (1991) suggested that two factors promoted this growth: first, the increasing number of opportunities associated with sponsorship as event owners recognised the commercial potential of their events; and second, a growing disillusionment with mass media advertising and the clutter which arguably diminished the effectiveness of traditional media vehicles (see also Crowley, 1991; Thwaites, Aguilar-Manjarrez & Kidd, 1998). Meenaghan (1998) subsequently suggested that new technological developments and sponsorship's ability to reach consumers at leisure were on-going advantages that would continue to fuel its growth. Although managers may sponsor almost any event they choose, the vast majority of sponsorship contracts relate to a sporting event or team. …

Ambush marketing: Corporate strategy and consumer reaction

Commercial sponsorship has grown significantly as a method of marketing communications; however, the practice of ambush marketing, whereby corporations, often direct competitors of official sponsors, seek low-cost association with major sporting events, is a related development, arguably to the detriment of both official sponsors and event owners. This article examines the phenomenon of ambush marketing and the main strategies employed by ambushing companies as well as seeking to explore consumer reaction to the practice of ambush marketing. Consumer reaction is examined under two broad headings: the effectiveness of ambush marketing and consumer attitudes to the practice of ambush marketing. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Taxpayer Subsidies for Major Sporting Events

Promoters of major sporting events in Australia have been successful at persuading governments to provide taxpayers’ funds to cover the costs of staging such events. Until recently, the justification for such use of taxpayers’ money has been in terms of the potential of the events to attract visitors and their associated expenditure. However, this has led to bidding wars between state governments in which the nation is the loser due to high payments to overseas event owners. Increasing attention is being focussed on the issue of returns to taxpayers/government for their outlays. This paper concludes that major sporting events do not appear to generate sufficient extra tax revenue to justify the expenditure of taxpayers’ funds. It goes on to suggest that if the tourism industry is the major beneficiary of hosting such events, then more emphasis should be placed upon finding ways in which the costs are borne by the industry.