Hosting major sport events is a large and complex endeavour entangled with various stakeholders, investments, outcomes, resources, and exchanges. Hosting major sport events has often relied on residents’ public funding, with the promise that hosting will create a positive social return on investment (SROI) for residents. However, not only has no empirical research to date determined residents’ SROI from hosting a major sport event, SROI sport research often fails to apply necessary monetary valuation methods and follow an appropriate framework underpinned by relevant economic and social concepts. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to understand residents’ SROI from hosting a publicly-funded major sport event.
To address this purpose, four research questions were presented, each answered through one of four articles: (1) what theoretical concepts have been used to underscore residents’ socio-economic exchanges when hosting a publicly-funded major sport event?; (2) which monetary valuation method(s) is(are) best to examine residents’ SROI from hosting a publicly-funded major sport event?; (3) what factors predict residents’ SROI from hosting a publicly-funded major sport event?; and (4) why did residents evaluate their SROI the way they did? To answer these questions, this dissertation first conducted a systematic review of relevant sport management literature and then followed a three-phase sequential mixed methods design which included pre-questionnaire semi-structured interviews with Metro Vancouver Regional District residents (n = 14), a self-administered online questionnaire with Canadian residents (n = 1901), and post-questionnaire semi-structured interviews with Canadian residents (n = 21).
In the first article, the systematic review revealed the importance of transparency, economic indicators, and affinity with sport factors when understanding residents’ SROI, but also revealed the lack of research focused on understanding residents’ SROI or the factors concepts associated with it. In the second article, semi-structured interviews were used to understand Vancouver residents’ experiences and desires with hosting the Games. Then 13 monetary valuation methods were evaluated with two monetary valuation methods (i.e., reverse contingent valuation method and opportunity cost approach) considered to be most appropriate to determine SROI based on specific selection criteria and used to examine Vancouver residents’ SROI. Quantitative analyses from the questionnaire findings indicated the reverse contingent valuation method to be best for studying this phenomenon. Through a regression analysis, the third article stressed the importance of financial investments and event outcomes to determine SROI, and predicted SROI based on social experience outcomes, affinity with sport factors, and economic factors. Finally, the fourth article investigated Canadian residents’ post-exchange SROI evaluation through semi-structured interviews and elicited how residents’ perspectives were formulated. Interviewees highlighted the importance of social norms, residents’ identity, and time, and the benefits of having a reflective opportunity to evaluate the exchange itself.
Consequently, this dissertation offers four concepts (i.e., structure, norms, time, experience) which collectively creates a comprehensive understanding of residents’ SROI from hosting a major sport event. This collection of concepts is presented in a conceptual framework with insight into its development, presentation, and potential construct relationships. The conceptual framework presents how and why residents who publicly fund major sport events evaluate their SROI. Specifically, this framework outlines the importance of the temporal effects of social outcomes while considering the power and control of government representatives, the alignment of pre-event desires and post-event outcomes, residents’ societal and hosting identities, their positive and negative experiences from hosting, and their affinity with sport and income. These findings highlight that hosting publicly-funded major sport events can produce positive SROI from residents. To do so, scholars, practitioners, and residents need to work harmoniously and transparently. Concurrently, the findings offer a path for scholars to explain this SROI phenomenon and produce better desired positive exchanges for residents and practitioners in the context of publicly-funded sport events.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/44119 |
| Date | 03 October 2022 |
| Creators | Bakhsh, Jordan |
| Contributors | Taks, Marijke, Parent, Milena |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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