Large Sporting Events Research Articles

Stock Markets’ Reactions to the Announcement of the Hosts. An Event Study in the Analysis of Large Sporting Events in the Years 1976–2032

This study attempts to estimate the impact of the announcements of hosts of large sporting events on domestic stock markets. The research problem is to establish a connection between the uniqueness of a sporting event and investors’ beliefs through stock price behavior. Using appropriate estimation windows, 13 different sporting events classified as large, including mega and major events, were tested. The obtained results show that, in principle, one day after the announcement of the host of a large sporting event, an average positive reaction of 0.22% is observed on national stock exchanges. The analyzed events were also classified as being neutral for capital markets or generating positive or negative reactions when the host country is announced to the public.

PLANEJAMENTO MÉDICO PARA EVENTOS ESPORTIVOS DE MASSA NO BRASIL

ABSTRACT Introduction: Medical planning for mass gathering events is founded on the structuring of assistance to the population involved and the preservation of the response capacities of the local healthcare system. Large sporting events attended by crowds are increasingly common in society. These events have been shown to be dangerous, generating higher incidences of injuries and illnesses than usual. Thus, planning and the interaction among various public and private sectors are required for the prevention of and response to emergencies and incidents involving multiple victims. Methods: Recently published studies on medical planning for large sports events and current federal agency legislation were selected to conduct an updated review on the subject. Results: After reading titles and abstracts, 159 papers were chosen for a full reading, 50 of which met the eligibility criteria and were included as the basis for this review. The size of the audience, the weather, and the behavior of the crowd seem to contribute significantly to the estimated need for resources in sporting events. Conclusion: Mass events require planning for prevention and to strengthen the resilience of host communities. There is a still a lack of evidence that these events increase the risk of the mass spreading of disease. Level of Evidence: V; Expert opinion .

Emergency department activities at the Athletes' Village during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More than 15,000 elite athletes participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Providing adequate medical services to these elite athletes was a priority. Hence, a polyclinic was established in the Athletes' Village. Visitors were triaged at the emergency department of the polyclinic to enable early treatment of critical illnesses or injuries in the emergency room (ER) and to identify patients suspected of having coronavirus disease as early as possible. No reports of emergency department activities at large sporting events in the pandemic era are available. Here, we aim to summarize the activities at the emergency department of the polyclinic. Data were collected using an electronic medical record system, nursing records, and questionnaires administered during triage from July 13 to September 8, 2021. Polyclinic data involving accredited athletes and team members were summarized. During the Olympic Games, 12,318 triage cases were reported, of which 75 were treated in the ER. During the Paralympic Games, 8398 triage cases were reported, of which 94 were treated in the ER. During the Olympic Games, musculoskeletal issues (26 patients) were the most common. During the Paralympic Games, ear, nose, and throat issues were the most common (21 patients). Two patients experienced cardiopulmonary arrest in the Athletes' Village and were transported to the hospital postresuscitation. During the study period, many critically ill patients were triaged and treated at the emergency department. Our data can be used to improve medical care and infection prevention at future international sporting events.

Climate-Tourism Information Scheme (CTIS) for sport events from past: analysis of cases of 1980 Summer Olympics (Moscow) and 2018 FIFA World Cup

This article provides a quantitative analysis of local climate-related factors that may influence the organization of large sport events in Moscow, Russia, and its graphic representation in form of CTIS (Climate-Tourism Information Scheme) with decade resolution for 1991-2021. The individual CTIS for two historical sport events with daily resolution were also done, and then compared to meteorological data recorded during two large sport events to assess the agreement between averaged and actual conditions, which was found to be good enough for CTIS to serve as basic evaluation method. The CTIS-difference with sport events in Moscow compared with cases of Doha and Tokyo seem to be more about identifying the time period with biggest thermal comfort frequencies, instead of looking for occurrences of heat stress conditions. According to 1980 Summer Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup events it can be noted that time period was planned satisfactorily.

Research on the Mechanism of Large Sports Events Promoting the Development of Urban Influence

Research on the Mechanism of Large Sports Events Promoting the Development of Urban Influence

Exploring the relationship between super bowls and potential online sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking is one type of human trafficking, which involves scenarios where individuals are not paid and are forced to engage in forced sex, forced prostitution, and sexual slavery. Online advertising is increasingly used by traffickers as an anonymous and efficient method to exploit victims. Large sporting events have been linked to increases in sex trafficking, although there is limited empirical evidence to support this claim. The goal of this study is to answer the following question: What is the relationship between Super Bowls and potential online sex trafficking? Using time series Poisson analysis of secondary data on online sexual service advertisements in Florida during the 2020 and 2021 Super Bowls, which took place in Miami and Tampa, Florida, respectively, the result indicates an increase in online advertisements that exhibit indicators of sex trafficking during the two Super Bowls. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for federal, state, and local law enforcement for improving sex trafficking responses during large sporting events and outlines a future research agenda on the relationship between large sporting events and sex trafficking.

Spatial agglomeration effects on eSports events: An intra- and inter-industry and regional analysis approach

With the increasing popularity of eSports, tourism marketers and scholars are particularly interested in the spillover effects of large sporting events, as well as the motivation to attend them. Using a demand-driven model, this study explores the intra- and inter-regional agglomeration economics of public and private investment in eSports events on the entire industry. This research focuses on the Pangyo Techno Valley in Gyeonggi province, which South Korea has developed into the most innovative IT cluster hub. This research defines the ecosystem of eSports events tourism, which includes electronics, communication and broadcasting, entertainment, and tour-related businesses. Moreover, the findings reveal that the eSports events sector has a relatively high ripple effect on the wholesale and retail trade, as well as food products and beverage industries. In terms of regional agglomeration externalities, this study presents empirical evidence on the spillover economic effect of the eSports events ecosystem. When designing and implementing smart tourism-related regulations, policymakers must take eSports events ecosystems into account.

"Human resource management model of mega sporting events —— the Beijing Winter Olympics as an example"

With the accelerated pace of globalization, the frequency and number of major international sports events are gradually increasing. The human resource management model has also been considered in this context, playing a more important role. In order to discuss this issue in depth, this paper will take the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games as a case study, and discuss the changes and upgrades of HRM model in detail from the perspective of recruitment and management in human resources, from the surface way to the deep content. First of all, in the recruitment, Beijing Winter Olympic Games has a unique way of recruitment, through many media and Internet resources to promote the unprecedented effect. The mass adoption of recruitment on the Internet has attracted talents from all over the world to participate. Secondly, in the management, for the volunteers, due to the epidemic, a longer period of closed management was adopted, and the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee also focused on the psychological state of the staff and volunteers. In order to ensure people's life and living in a positive and effective way, in order to achieve a more efficient human management. In the end, the author summarizes the changes in the model of human resources management in the Winter Olympics, summarizes the characteristics of large international sporting events, refines the universal model with high feasibility, and summarizes the experience with the actual.

Enhancing Drones for Law Enforcement and Capacity Monitoring at Open Large Events

Police tasks related with law enforcement and citizen protection have gained a very useful asset in drones. Crowded demonstrations, large sporting events, or summer festivals are typical situations when aerial surveillance is necessary. The eyes in the sky are moving from the use of manned helicopters to drones due to costs, environmental impact, and discretion, resulting in local, regional, and national police forces possessing specific units equipped with drones. In this paper, we describe an artificial intelligence solution developed for the Castelldefels local police (Barcelona, Spain) to enhance the capabilities of drones used for the surveillance of large events. In particular, we propose a novel methodology for the efficient integration of deep learning algorithms in drone avionics. This integration improves the capabilities of the drone for tasks related with capacity control. These tasks have been very relevant during the pandemic and beyond. Controlling the number of persons in an open area is crucial when the expected crowd might exceed the capacity of the area and put humans in danger. The new methodology proposes an efficient and accurate execution of deep learning algorithms, which are usually highly demanding for computation resources. Results show that the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models are too slow when utilised in the drone standard equipment. These models lose accuracy when images are taken at altitudes above 30 m. With our new methodology, these two drawbacks can be overcome and results with good accuracy (96% correct segmentation and between 20% and 35% mean average proportional error) can be obtained in less than 20 s.

Modeling the effects of vaccination, nucleic acid testing, and face mask wearing interventions against COVID-19 in large sports events.

The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 leads to devastating COVID-19 infections around the world, which has affected both human health and the development of industries dependent on social gatherings. Sports events are one of the subgroups facing great challenges. The uncertainty of COVID-19 transmission in large-scale sports events is a great barrier to decision-making with regard to reopening auditoriums. Policymakers and health experts are trying to figure out better policies to balance audience experiences and COVID-19 infection control. In this study, we employed the generalized SEIR model in conjunction with the Wells-Riley model to estimate the effects of vaccination, nucleic acid testing, and face mask wearing on audience infection control during the 2021 Chinese Football Association Super League from 20 April to 5 August. The generalized SEIR modeling showed that if the general population were vaccinated by inactive vaccines at an efficiency of 0.78, the total number of infectious people during this time period would decrease from 43,455 to 6,417. We assumed that the general population had the same odds ratio of entering the sports stadiums and becoming the audience. Their infection probabilities in the stadium were further estimated by the Wells-Riley model. The results showed that if all of the 30,000 seats in the stadium were filled by the audience, 371 audience members would have become infected during the 116 football games in the 2021 season. The independent use of vaccination and nucleic acid testing would have decreased this number to 79 and 118, respectively. The combined use of nucleic acid testing and vaccination or face mask wearing would have decreased this number to 14 and 34, respectively. The combined use of all three strategies could have further decreased this number to 0. According to the modeling results, policymakers can consider the combined use of vaccination, nucleic acid testing, and face mask wearing to protect audiences from infection when holding sports events, which could create a balance between audience experiences and COVID-19 infection control.

Developing a population data science approach to assess increased risk of COVID-19 associated with attending large sporting events.

ObjectivesTo design and test a method to assess whether test events were associated with an increase in risk of confirmed COVID-19, in order to inform policy on the safe re-introduction of spectator events following decreasing incidence of COVID-19 and relaxing of restrictions.
 ApproachWe designed a cohort study to measure relative risk of confirmed COVID-19 in those attending two large sporting events in South Wales during May-June 2021. First, we linked ticketing information to records on the Welsh Demographic Service (WDS) and identified NHS numbers for attendees. We then linked attendees to routine SARS-CoV-2 test data to calculate incidence rates in people attending each event for a fourteen days period following the event. We selected a comparison cohort from WDS for each event, individually matched by age band, gender and locality of residence. Risk ratios were then computed for the two events.
 ResultsWe successfully assigned NHS numbers to 91% and 84% of people attending the two events, respectively. Other identifiers were available for the remainder. Only a small number of attendees (<10) had a record of confirmed COVID-19 following attendance at each event (14 day cumulative incidence: 36 and 26 per 100,000, respectively). Background incidences in Wales over the same periods were 22 and 61 per 100,000, respectively. There was no evidence of significantly increased risk of COVID-19 at either event (event 1: 3.00 (0.18-47.9), p=0.50, event 2: 0.30 (0.04-2.34), p= 0.23). However, event 1, which didn’t include pre-event testing in their mitigations, had a higher risk ratio (>1) than event 2 (<1), which did include pre-event testing.
 ConclusionsWe demonstrate the potential for data linkage to inform COVID-19 policy regarding sporting events. At that point in the epidemic, there was no evidence that attending large sporting events increased risk of COVID-19. However, these events took place between epidemic waves when background incidence and testing rate was low.

Involvement, Social Impact Experiences, and Event Support of Host Residents Before, during, and after the 2021 UCI Road World Championships

Host residents’ support is of paramount importance for the success of spectator sports events. Factors influencing event support have been investigated in past research, but usually in isolation. The current study includes multiple factors by analysing the relationship among involvement, social impact experiences, and event support. Data were collected online four and six months before, during, and two months after the 2021 UCI Road World Championships from 3219 from residents, representative for the city of Leuven (Belgium). The 2021 UCI Road World Championships offered a unique context, as it was the first large spectator sports event organised in Flanders since COVID-19. The event had a limited social impact, but this increased over time (e.g., community spirit and event support). Social impact experiences mainly exerted a significant influence on event support rather than attitudinal and behavioural involvement factors. The results of this study inform national and local policymakers to attract events, event organisers to achieve impact and legacy, and other scholars to improve the understanding of spectator sports event research.

Developing a population data science approach to assess increased risk of COVID-19 associated with attending large events

IntroductionIn summer 2021, as rates of COVID-19 decreased and social restrictions were relaxed, live entertainment and sporting events were resumed. In order to inform policy on the safe re-introduction of spectator events, a number of test events were organised in Wales, ranging in setting, size and audience. ObjectivesTo design and test a method to assess whether test events were associated with an increase in risk of confirmed COVID-19, in order to inform policy. MethodsWe designed a cohort study with fixed follow-up time and measured relative risk of confirmed COVID-19 in those attending two large sporting events. First, we linked ticketing information to individual records on the Welsh Demographic Service (WDS), a register of all people living in Wales and registered with a GP, and identified NHS numbers for attendees. Where NHS numbers were not found we used combinations of other identifiers such as email, name, postcode and/or mobile number. We then linked attendees to routine SARS-CoV-2 test data to calculate positivity rates in people attending each event for the period one to fourteen days following the event. We selected a comparison cohort from WDS for each event, individually matched by age band, gender and locality of residence. As many people attended events in family groups we explored the possibility of also matching on household clusters within the comparison group. Risk ratios were then computed for the two events. ResultsWe successfully assigned NHS numbers to 91% and 84% of people attending the two events respectively. Other identifiers were available for the remainder. Only a small number of attendees (<10) had a record of confirmed COVID-19 following attendance at each event (14 day cumulative incidence: 36 and 26 per 100,000, respectively). There was no evidence of significantly increased risk of COVID-19 at either event. However, the event that didn't include pre-event testing in their mitigations, had a higher risk ratio (3.0 compared to 0.3). ConclusionsWe demonstrate the potential for using population data science methods to inform policy. We conclude that, at that point in the epidemic, and with the mitigations that were in place, attending large outdoor sporting events did not significantly increase risk of COVID-19. However, these analyses were carried out between epidemic waves when background incidence and testing rate was low, and need to be repeated during periods of greater transmission. Having a mechanism to identify attendees at events is necessary to calculate risk and feasibility and acceptability of data sharing should be considered.

From cobblestones to cohesion: the role of professional cycling in the development of social capital in Flanders, Belgium

Although a large literature links mass sports events to elements of social capital arena-based sports with worldwide popularity like football, no studies have previously considered whether such associations can be found for sports that are specifically popular in particular regions. Here, we focus on cycling in Belgium. During the spring of each year, a unique type of one-day professional cycling race is organised in Belgium and France: cobblestone races (e.g. Tour of Flanders). These are very popular among the public in Flanders, Belgium because of their long history and current Belgian cyclists’ strong performances in them. We focus on a key element of social capital: trust in others. Using online survey data from a long-running study by the Flemish Government (N = 33,671), we analyse whether Belgian cyclists’ performances in and television ratings of cobblestone races are associated with various types of trust among the Flemish public. Results indicate that strong Belgian performances in cobblestone races are associated with greater neighbourhood trust, while high television ratings are also associated with greater trust. Some of these effects are moderated by age and gender. We discuss the implications of our findings and avenues of future research on the role of locally popular sports in the development of social capital.

Risk assessment of large-scale sports events based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

Large scale sports events bring all kinds of opportunities, but also contain huge risks. Therefore, risk management measures in the operation of sports events is important, and risk assessment is a significant part of risk management. It is indispensable to select risk factors that have a greater impact on the event risk and analyze their impact on the event risk and the degree of impact. In this paper, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to study the risk assessment. Through the identification of risk factors, the modeling of analytic hierarchy process, the construction of fuzzy evaluation matrix and the ranking of risk factors, the importance ranking of risk factors in the operation of large-scale sports events is realized. Aiming at the fuzziness of people’s judgment reflected by fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, a research method of risk assessment of large-scale sports events based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is proposed. Through a series of steps of risk identification and risk assessment of sports events, the risk assessment of sports events is realized, event risk factors, modeling of AHP structure, building of fuzzy judgment matrix and ranking of event risk factors, importance ranking of risk factors. The experimental results show that the consistency ratio CR = CI/RI = 0.0193/0.58 = 0.033 < 0.1, the judgment matrix has good consistency, which shows the feasibility in the risk assessment of large-scale sports events.

Mitigating crowded transportation terminals nearby mega-sports events

ABSTRACT Hosting mega sports events in large cities worldwide surges the number of visitors. Congestion is observed at subway, bus, and train stations nearby the sports venues by the end of every competition. We propose two techniques for crowd-control around large sports events. We use Augmented Reality(AR) technology and hand gestures detecting wearable devices for two purposes. First, post-event congestion peak avoidance at the nearest station by passengers' arrival rate reduction. Attraction spots, where fans can enjoy secondary activities such as remote-sightseeing using VR, can be established in arbitrary locations around the venue. This is to postpone some fans' arrival at the nearest station and to encourage walking towards another nearby one. Second, accelerating the inside-station trip to increase passengers' departure rate. Fans moving in groups can use the wearable device and the coupled smartphone application for intra-station navigation and quick way-finding while avoiding getting separated by the crowds. We also present two agent-based simulations to indicate the efficacy of both techniques in mitigating stations overcrowding. The evaluation shows that providing attraction spots reduced fans' arrival at the nearest station to the event and the arrival rates at all stations. Moreover, the navigation of large-size groups was enhanced in crowded stations.

An Empirical Exploration of Volunteer Management Theory and Practice: Considerations for Sport Events in a "Post-COVID-19" World.

The existing literature highlights some universal principles that are widely accepted as a good volunteer management practice, e. g., volunteer appreciation and recognition, provision of meaningful roles, effective communication, and the importance of relational connection, just to name a few. Yet, it can be argued that a gap exists in the relationship between volunteer management theory and practice in the context of large sport events. For example, published evidence shows that volunteer programs often lack effective planning and management to achieve successful program results. On one hand, this can be attributable to limited knowledge about volunteers' characteristics and motivations, their lived experiences, the processes of volunteering, and the actual volunteer management practices. On the other hand, a lack of the right mechanisms (e.g., political will, financial, and managerial resources) in place before and throughout the event lifespan intensifies this disconnect. The aim of this research, therefore, was to critically examine the reasons behind this theory-practice divide in volunteer–volunteer management relationship and its potential impact on volunteer experiences and volunteer program outcomes, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for sport event organizers and volunteer managers in the UK. A mixed methods approach was adopted for this study: a survey conducted with volunteers (n = 101) combined with a series of interviews with volunteers (n = 8) and volunteer managers (n = 6). The study identified some potential challenges facing volunteer programs associated with large sport events post-pandemic, particularly in relation to volunteer recruitment, volunteer management, and safety concerns affecting volunteer confidence to re-engage in volunteering. These challenges carry with them certain resource implications that event organizers need to consider to effectively run volunteer programs and support volunteers in engagement and re-engagement following the pandemic, as well as to harness opportunities the pandemic has potentially created to successfully re-emerge from the shadow of COVID-19. The study provides specific recommendations to inform event planning and delivery to enhance volunteer experiences and, ultimately, outcomes of volunteer programs associated with large sport events.

The financial challenges of hosting sports events: a problem of insufficient separation between decision-making and decision-control

ABSTRACT Research question: This article aims to explain that poorly functioning separation between decision-making, decision-control, and risk-bearing is a fundamental reason for the financial underperformance of major or large sport events. We look at empirical data from four major sports events hosted in Norway: The 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, the 2011 International Ski Federation (FIS) World Skiing Championship, the 2014 FIDE Chess Olympiad, and the 2017 International Cycling Union (UCI) World Road Cycling Championships. All these events suffered financially. Research methods: The study data were collected from 66 semi-structured interviews and different types of documents, like guides and reports filed by different stakeholders, applications for financial support, collaboration agreements, protocols of meetings, e-mail correspondence, financial statements, and budgeting documents. Results and findings: Through an examination of the previous literature, our analysis confirms drivers and symptoms of financial problems at sport events. These are: the exaggerated focus on legitimising the event, soft-budget practices, interference by political interests, and so on. We argue that many of these factors could have been handled better if a more consequent separation of risk-bearing, decision-making, and decision-control was in place. Implications: We propose a better separation between the decision-making and decision-control function, by means of a permanent and independent entity that is responsible for the decision-control function. Such an institution could enhance knowledge transfer, contribute competence and skills, and improve the financial outcome of a sports events.

THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZING MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS ON PUBLIC INTEREST IN SPORT – EXAMPLE OF THE 2018 EUROPEAN HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ANALISED WITH GOOGLE TRENDS TOOL

The European Handball Championship (EHC), along with the Olympic Games and the World Championships, is the largest sports event in handball. In everyday practice, there is a need for exact measuring of interest for some activity or sport in a particular geographical area. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of the organization of the 2018 EHC on public interest in Handball in the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Keywords entered into an Internet search engine can be a useful resource for analyzing the public interest. For the purposes of this study we used the Google Trends network tool for detecting interests before, during and after the EHC. The results show that the greatest interest for handball was expressed in Varaždin county, whereas the 5 top cities were: Varaždin (100%), followed by Osijek (63%), Zagreb (61%), Split (55%), and Rijeka (52%). The presented results show that the organization of major sports events as the EHC affects the increase of interest, and in the analyzed case the interest during the EHC increased up to twenty times compared to the average values (3.14% max values) that occur during the analyzed period.

The economics of sex work and major sporting events: Learning from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Risk-taking in sex work is related to financial gains from condom-protected and condomless-acts alongside vulnerabilities, including socio-economic factors, which influence the safety of sex workers. Large international sporting events have been shown to significantly impact the economies of host countries, but there is a dearth of studies that examine how major sporting events may affect the economics of sex work and the risks taken by sex workers and clients. This study examines the determinants of the price of commercial sex alongside the price premium for and correlates of, condomless sex before, during and after the 2010 world cup in South Africa. We analysed data from three phases of repeated cross-sectional surveys with sex workers. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to examine the predictors of condomless sex. We also fitted fixed-effect regression models to examine the determinants of the price of commercial sex across each survey phase. Findings suggest that the price of sex was higher during the world cup compared to before and after, whilst the price premium for condomless-sex increased from 36% before the world cup to 40% (p-value<0.001) and 57% (p-value<0.001) during and after the world cup, respectively. Across the survey phases, anal, oral or masturbation sex were more likely to be supplied without a condom compared to vaginal sex. The type of sex was the primary determinant of the price of sex across all phases. We show indicative evidence that the 2010 world cup was associated with an increase in the price of sex and supply of condomless-sex. Although these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal relationships, we recommend that countries with substantial sex-worker populations that host major events shouldexplicitly consider the context and structures of sex work, and promote client-focused safe-sex-interventions that explicitly consider the economic pressures faced by sexworkers to provide riskier acts, to minimise health impacts.