Success Factors on Which to Invest in Mega Sport Events: Lessons from the Past and Insights into the Future

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to define the broad conditions in the predisposition of the bid to host a mega sport event that allow: a) the success in the selection; b) the maximization of benefits in the pre, during and post-event phases; c) the environmental and social sustainability of touristic flows attracted by the event. The specific reference is to the Italian bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games in Rome, to which literature has not yet dedicated specific contributions. The methodology consists in a multiple case study regarding six mega events (four successful and two unsuccessful ones) specifically focused on the outcome of the bid and on the level of benefits achieved by local communities having hosted such events. The time horizon of the study concerns the short term in particular, but it also examines the implications in the medium / long term. The results consist in the identification of the best practices used in the cases under consideration-with particular reference to the ability of primary stakeholders to build effective relationships each other and with other stakeholders-and in their transposition, after the necessary adaptation to the political, social and infrastructural pre-existing conditions, to the suction of Rome to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Findings can be transferred to the various stakeholders of the event under design with the aim to provide a contribution of the scientific community to the best setting of the initiative with particular reference to the preparation of the bid.