The Role of Major Sports Events in Regional Communities: A Spatial Approach to the Analysis of Social Impacts

Abstract

This study aims to suggest a way through which policymakers can easily understand the nature of the social impacts of events through a spatial framing of such impacts. The case study is based on two major sports events, namely the Alpine and Biathlon World Championships (together branded as the World Championships Region ), which took place within a small time frame in spring 2019 in the region of Jämtland, Sweden. As the region has an overarching events strategy, the goal of which is to benefit the entire regional population, this study sets out to examine whether this is the case by mapping the spatial distribution of social impacts of the aforementioned events. Using an SMS-based distribution method, and then applying a cluster analysis based on the 4,886 acquired responses, this study identified patterns of social impact based on regional resident perceptions across four social impact indicators. Results demonstrated that the strongest positive and negative reactions to the events came from residents in the host municipalities and the municipalities adjacent to where the events took place. Regional residents who experienced a high degree of pride but little else in the form of social impact were primarily concentrated in the peripheries of the region. These findings suggest that although the overall positive or negative experience was not necessarily highest among those who could not access the events, this group still exhibited a strong sense of emotional investment in the events and the regional identity. Overall, this article contributes to a deepened understanding of the social equity dimension of events in relation to space. It also shines a critical light on the often-held assumption that a large-scale event in one community is unequivocally beneficial for communities nearby.