Sport Participation Legacy Research Articles

Direct and Indirect Trickle-down effects on sport participation legacy through non-mega sports events

Mega sport events are frequently criticized for excessive commercialization and sustainability concerns. By contrast, non-mega sport events (NMSEs) offer more cost-effective, locally suitable, and socially sustainable benefits. To understand the lasting influence of NMSEs on local sport participation, we constructed a research model based on systems theory and integrated with youth and grassroots sport development legacies into a trickle-down effect model to examine their mediating roles. In the context of the National Sports Festival, an annual Japanese sport competition, we surveyed sport and government officials (n = 158) on the legacies of youth and grassroots sport development, sport infrastructure, sport inspiration, and sport participation. The findings indicate both sport infrastructure and sport inspiration legacies have positive indirect effects on sport participation legacy through grassroots sport development legacy. This study adds new insights on the importance of NMSEs, identifying grassroots sport development legacy as a mediating mechanism that facilitates sport participation.

Sustainable Development of Olympic Sport Participation Legacy: A Scoping Review Based on the PAGER Framework

After the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese officials claimed that the goal of “driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports” had been achieved. Historically, the London 2012 Olympic Games had a similar goal: to increase sports participation for all by hosting the Olympic Games. Given these goals, the impact of the Olympic Games on sports participation has clearly become significant. These impacts can be referred to as the Olympic sport participation legacy, an intangible Olympic legacy. The Olympic sport participation legacy has attracted a lot of researchers’ interest in the academic field in recent years. This paper aims to conduct a scoping review of Olympic sport participation legacy studies between 2000 and 2021 to identify the progress of studies on the sustainability of Olympic sport participation legacies. Unlike previous scoping reviews on sport participation legacies, this review adopts a Patterns, Advances, Gaps, Evidence of Practice, and Research Recommendations (PAGER) framework at the results analysis stage to improve the quality of the findings. The results from the scoping review contained 54 peer-reviewed articles on three levels of research: the population level, social level, and intervention processes. Many studies indicate that achieving a sustainable Olympic sport participation legacy requires joint collaboration and long-term planning between governments, community organisations, and other stakeholders.

Planning and implementation of event leveraging strategy: China’s legacy pledge to motivate 300 million people to be involved in winter sport

ABSTRACT This paper examines China’s planning and implementation of leveraging, using the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, to achieve the winter sport participation legacy of 300 million people involved in winter sport. Drawing upon interviews and documentary data, the authors findings reveal that the planning of the leveraging programme, which was politically motivated, was a centralised and government-led bid to stimulate participation and consumption within China’s winter sport industry. The leveraging programme also served broader economic, social, and political state agendas. The main implementation pathway relied heavily on the existing structures for the provision of sport and education, and, due to a lack of state resources (or facilities), support was sought from the private sector. This study further suggests that state interference to steer the direction and development of leveraging might have served as a double-edged sword: On the one hand, it provided much government-led impetus for goal setting across sectors and departments, directing extensive cooperative efforts and resources towards leveraging. On the other hand, it might not have been the most sustainable approach for increasing participation, due to the overreliance on top-down implementation and short-term policy interventions.

Investigating the sport participation legacy of a major event: the case of one multi-use sport facility

Investigating the sport participation legacy of a major event: the case of one multi-use sport facility

Investigating the sport participation legacy of a major event: the case of one multi-use sport facility

Investigating the sport participation legacy of a major event: the case of one multi-use sport facility

Leveraging sporting events to create sport participation: a case study of the 2016 Youth Olympic Games

ABSTRACT The leverage perspective takes a prospective approach to legacy and focuses on how different organisations use an event as a catalyst to implement their own organisational goals. This paper examines how the second winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer in 2016 were leveraged to increase participation in organised and non-organised sport among regional youth. The analytical framework is based on available sport participation leverage literature. This is a case study using interviews with representatives from involved organisations, archival materials and observations as its main sources. The findings show that event organisations, sport organisations and non-sport organisations formed alliances to leverage the 2016 YOG for sport participation with intervention programmes and new infrastructure as the two main strategies. The sport participation legacy outcomes of the 2016 YOG were constrained by a lack of long-term strategies and limited resources made available after the Games. To maximise the sport participation goals, strong alliances and long-term commitments need to be formed among local and regional organisations.

The Political Economy of Mass Sport Participation Legacies From Large-Scale Sport Events: A Conceptual Paper

Sport event studies have demonstrated that relevant stakeholders must share objectives and coordinate efforts to leverage a large-scale sport event to secure positive legacies. However, the challenging and complex task of collaboration between networks of diverse organizational stakeholders to secure legacies has received little scholarly attention. In this conceptual paper, the authors explore, through a political economy lens, differences between the political economies of sports and sport events pertaining to mass sport participation legacies. The authors focus on the mesolevel and consider how divergences in political economy elements—structure and context, stakeholders and ideas/incentives, and bargaining processes—influence the likelihood of mass sport participation legacies from large-scale sport events. The authors suggest a need for event legacy stakeholders to engage more meaningfully with the complexities surrounding securing mass sport participation legacies. In addition, they provide pragmatic, actionable implications for policy and practice to assist stakeholders in addressing the challenges they face to maximize legacy outcomes.

A Case of Leveraging a Mega-Sport Event for a Sport Participation and Sport Tourism Legacy: A Prospective Longitudinal Case Study of Whistler Adaptive Sports

Sport participation legacies are often offered as reasons to host mega-sport events, yet there is little evidence to demonstrate the claim’s legitimacy, thus we examine “What did Whistler Sports do to leverage the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to facilitate a sport tourism legacy?”. Through a prospective longitudinal case study of WAS and application of the temporal extension of the socioecological framework, multiple data sources were analyzed from over a decade beginning before the event until 2019. The findings reveal the situated and embedded nature of mega-sport event legacies i.e., context. These depend upon a network of facilitators such as local, provincial, and federal policies; pre-event and post-event vision and strategies from local communities and sport organizations; the development of a pool of willing and flexible volunteers. Together these were strategically leveraged to overcome sport participation and sport tourism barriers for people with disabilities. The sport, tourism, and sport tourism experience reflected Whistler’s natural and infrastructure advantage and the needs and desires of locals and visitors with access needs that could not have occurred without the capital injection of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Leveraging the mega-sport event opportunities required leadership and a strategic vision for repositioning to a year-round program. This strategic change also opened new sport and sport tourism opportunities for current participants but importantly brought new participants and their friendship groups to Whistler over the post-event decade for year-round sustainable adaptive sport opportunities.

Are mega-events a solution to address physical inactivity? Interrogating the London 2012 Paralympic sport participation legacies among people with disabilities

Understanding why non-active people with disabilities have not participated in more sport since the London 2012 Paralympic Games is the focus of this paper. This research reviews the constraints preventing people with disabilities from participating in more sport, and the role the London 2012 Paralympic Games plays in this. Eighty-one people with disabilities in England who are non-active completed an online questionnaire exploring their constraints to participating in more sport. The data suggests attitudes towards the London 2012 Paralympic Games were not an important reason for the lack of sport participation: instead, systemic and social barriers are more constraining to participation in more sport. A factor analysis identified four components that constrain non-active people with disabilities: sport provision; economic; unawareness of how to include people with disabilities in sporting activities; and access to sport participation opportunities. The four components explained 72.93% of the total variance. It is recommended mega sporting events are not used as a policy intervention to increase sport participation of people with disabilities, as this does not account for constraining social and systemic barriers to sports participation. Instead, bottom-up solutions designed and managed in conjunction with people with disabilities may be more effective.

The impact of austerity on the London 2012 Summer Olympics participation legacy from a grassroots sports club perspective: an institutional logics approach

ABSTRACT This study explores the impact of austerity on the London 2012 Summer Olympics participation legacy from a grassroots sports club perspective, utilising institutional theory. The study adopted a mixed methods approach including semi-structured interviews with 11 stakeholders involved in grassroots sport alongside a review of key policy documentation (n = 8) and relevant literature. In keeping with the institutional logics perspective, these data were analysed in order to understand the impact of austerity on the sport participation legacy from the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The main findings of this study evidence mechanisms by which austerity policies, such as cuts in welfare and local government funding, have impacted sports provision at the grassroots sports club level. A shift towards a market logic at the society level induced, through the theorisation of austerity and cuts in the resource environment, the development of institutional contradictions at the field level that in turn, impacted operations at the grassroots sports club level. This study demonstrates that there is a fundamental contradiction between austerity and securing participation objectives in relation to the hosting of mega-events such as the Olympic Games, as mechanisms that support this increase (sport participation programmes, funding, etc.) are often reduced or eliminated.

The role of voluntary sport organisations in leveraging the London 2012 sport participation legacy

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to understand the perceptions of national Voluntary Sport Organisations (VSOs) managers towards a mega sports event and identify the components they felt enhanced or inhibited their organisations capacity to implement a sport participation legacy. London 2012 was the first Olympic Games to explicitly attempt to deliver this type of legacy, and an exploratory, online mixed-method survey examined the perceptions of 105 senior managers from 37 VSOs, post-event. Principal Component Analysis identified four distinct factors: ‘objectives, standards & resources’, ‘event capitalisation & opportunities’, ‘monitoring & evaluation’ and ‘club engagement & implementation’, explaining 51.5% of the variance. Also, relevant organisational characteristics such as sport type, funding and sport size were examined to investigate the influence this had on their capacity. From these findings, the main recommendations are that future mega sport event hosts should: 1) Engage and consult with multiple stakeholders to engender sustained sport participation. 2) Set clear and monitorable objectives. 3) Establish funding and support mechanisms relevant to each sport. 4) Engage non-competing sports in the leveraging process. 5) Finally, event organisers should try to ensure personnel consistency.

Sport participation, international sports events and the ‘trickle-down effect’

Original article:A. J. Veal, K. Toohey, & S. Frawley. (2012). The sport participation legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and other international sporting events hosted in Australia. Journal of...

Did London 2012 deliver a sports participation legacy?

Despite the increasing academic interest in the analysis of the Olympic legacy, there is a relative knowledge gap as far as sports participation legacy is concerned. The authors bridge this gap by analysing the short-term sports participation legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the adult population in England. By using data from the Active People Survey and considering different sports participation variables and the effect of the economic climate, results demonstrate a positive association with participation from hosting the Games. Participation rates were adjusted to take into account seasonality and changes in the gross domestic product (GDP), accounting in this way for the effect of the recent economic recession. The biggest effect was observed in relation to frequent participation (at least three times per week for at least 30 min) in the year immediately after the Games. In 2014, the sports participation rates fell relative to 2013 but remained higher than pre-Olympic levels. The sport participation legacy of the Olympic Games appeared to have significant differences between socio-demographic groups.

The sport participation legacy of major events in the UK.

This paper examines the extent to which attending major sporting events leads to subsequent changes in the sport participation behaviour of spectators. The research covered seven single-sport events of World or European level held in the UK in 2014 and was concerned with spectators (aged 16 and over) who attended one of these events. Baseline data was gathered from a sample of spectators at each event using a face-to-face survey. Follow-up data was captured using an online survey at least nine months post-event. Our analysis is based on 258 people for whom both baseline and follow-up data were available (matched pairs). Using the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), the evidence from this research points to a small (net) positive staged change in sport participation among the sample overall. Variations in the nature and scale of changes associated with events featuring different sports were observed. Progression between the TTM stages was evident for individuals who were previously in the pre-preparation, preparation and action stages. The likelihood of progression appears to be strongest where prior contemplation for behaviour change was prevalent. Event attendance emerged as an important contributor for moving individuals along the TTM continuum, alongside a range of other factors. The demonstration or trickle-down effect was the primary mechanism by which any sport participation legacy supported by these events occurred. The practical applications of the research and the wider health benefits of leveraging event-induced sport participation increases are discussed.

Sport Participation Legacy and the Olympic Games: The Case of Sydney 2000, London 2012, and Rio 2016

Sport participation as a legacy of the Olympic Games (OG) has frequently featured as a component of the "legacy package" that government bodies and organizing committees promote to the local communities to gain support for the hosting of these mega-events. However, only recently increased sport participation has been explicitly included as part of a legacy plan in OG candidature files. This article examines the changes and development of sport legacy planning and implementation from Sydney 2000, London 2012, and Rio 2016. The three case studies confirm that sport participation legacies are only achieved if host governments engage the community, develop long-term strategies, and coordinate efforts between different government portfolios and with a range of relevant stakeholders. So far, there is limited evidence available to demonstrate that relevant government bodies have attempted to strategically leverage the Games with the purpose of developing a sport participation legacy for the wider population.

Event satisfaction and behavioural intentions: examining the impact of the London 2012 Olympic Games on participation in sport

ABSTRACTResearch question: Does event satisfaction influence future intentions to attend events and participate in sport? The research addressed this question by focussing on participation in swimming and the influence of watching the London 2012 Olympic Games; an event which sought to create a legacy of mass sport participation.Research methods: Surveys were conducted at the Olympic Aquatics Centre (n = 185) and at a Leisure Centre in Plymouth in south-west England (n = 135) making it possible to test for differences between people who experienced the London Olympic Games as a live event and those who watched the event on television. Exploratory factor analysis and partial least squares structural equation modelling were used to analyse the data.Results and findings: Although there was a positive relationship between event satisfaction and intention to watch swimming events in the future (as a spectator and on television), this was not true for event satisfaction and intention to participate in swimming.Implications: The findings are consistent with previous studies which suggest that mega-events are unlikely to create sport participation legacies. However, longitudinal studies are needed to test for behavioural changes and to identify the significance of factors associated with access to sport facilities.

Leveraging the sport participation legacy of the London 2012 Olympics: senior managers’ perceptions

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to understand how a sports mega event (SME) was leveraged to try and increase participation, through the investigation of national governing bodies (NGBs) opinions and attitudes. Critical Realism (CR) was used as a tool to aid understanding of leveraging and legacy conceptualisation, through an empirical investigation. An extensive, mixed method online survey was conducted post London 2012 with senior staff members of NGBs, the main delivery agent chosen to support the participation initiatives associated with the London 2012 Olympics. This research provides valuable findings surrounding the use of CR as a tool to investigate legacy creation, whilst at the same time offering insights to enhance the policy implementation process within the sports development sector. The importance of communication, competitive nature of sports system, media, club engagement, organisational capacity and monitoring and evaluation were highlighted, which provided useful insights into the multidimensional constructs that can aid future leveraging strategies prior to hosting SMEs.

The Olympic Games and raising sport participation: a systematic review of evidence and an interrogation of policy for a demonstration effect

Research questions: Can a demonstration effect, whereby people are inspired by elite sport, sports people and events to actively participate themselves, be harnessed from an Olympic Games to influence sport participation? Did London 2012 sport participation legacy policy draw on evidence about a demonstration effect, and was a legacy delivered?Research methods: A worldwide systematic review of English language evidence returned 1778 sources iteratively reduced by the author panel, on advice from an international review panel to 21 included sources that were quality appraised and synthesised narratively. The evidence was used to examine the influence of a demonstration effect on sport participation engagement and to interrogate sport participation legacy policy for London 2012.Results and findings: There is no evidence for an inherent demonstration effect, but a potential demonstration effect, properly leveraged, may deliver increases in sport participation frequency and re-engage lapsed participants. Despite setting out to use London 2012 to raise sport participation, successive UK Governments' policy failures to harness the potential influence of a demonstration effect on demand resulted in failure to deliver increased participation.Implications: If the primary justification for hosting an Olympic Games is the potential impact on sport participation, the Games are a bad investment. However, the Games can have specific impacts on sport participation frequency and re-engagement, and if these are desirable for host societies, are properly leveraged by hosts, and are one among a number of reasons for hosting the Games, then the Games may be a justifiable investment in sport participation terms.

Football participation legacy and Australia’s qualification for the 2006 Football World Cup

This paper examines the impact of qualification for the 2006 World Cup on football participation in Australia. Australia’s qualification for the 2006 World Cup created widespread media coverage across the country, and this was amplified by the fact that it was only the second time the nation had qualified for the event. Contrary to a number of studies that have examined sport participation legacy and major events, this research presents data that suggest an overall positive trend in Australian football participation post Australia’s successful World Cup qualification. Three of the four demographic categories examined in the study had witnessed increased football participation across the examined period.

Are cariocas getting ready for the Games? Sport participation and the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games

Bidding and organizing committees of mega-events greatly emphasize the intangible benefits derived from hosting such events in their communities, despite the lack of research confirming intangible legacies. This research note is intended to contribute to the sport event management field by discussing an oft-cited but rarely explored intangible legacy of the Olympic Games: the sport participation legacy. In this study, interviews were conducted with physical education professionals currently residing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the host of the 2016 Olympic Games. Preliminary conclusions from the study revealed that there are high expectations of the Olympic Games legacies, particularly in regards to sport participation. This optimistic view contrasted with perceptions that corruption, evident when Rio de Janeiro hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, may again taint a mega-sport event in Brazil.