Managing Major Sports Events

Theory and Practice

Milena M. Parent, Aurélia Ruetsch

• Editore: Routledge
• Anno: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000212754
• Edizione: 2
• Argomento: Social Sciences
• Categoria: Sociology

Managing Major Sports Events: Theory and Practice is a complete introduction to the principles and practical skills that underpin the running and hosting of major sports events, from initial bid to post-event legacy and sustainability.

Now in a fully revised and updated new edition, the book draws on the latest research from across multiple disciplines, explores real-world situations, and emphasises practical problem-solving skills. It covers every key area in the event management process, including:

• Bidding, leadership, and planning;

• Marketing and human resource management;

• Venues and ceremonies;

• Communications and technology (including social media);

• Functional area considerations (including sport, protocol, and event services);

• Security and risk management;

• Games-time considerations;

• Event wrap-up and evaluation;

• Legacy and sustainability.

This revised edition includes expanded coverage of cutting-edge topics such as digital media, culture, human resources, the volunteer workforce, readiness, security, and managing Games-time. Each chapter combines theory, practical decision-making exercises, and case studies of major sports events from around the world, helping students and practitioners alike to understand and prepare for the reality of executing major events on an international scale. Also new to this edition is an "Outlook, Trends, and Innovations" section in each chapter, plus "tips" from leading events professionals.

Managing Major Sports Events: Theory and Practice is an essential textbook for any course on sports event management or international sports management, and an invaluable resource for all sport management researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

Online resources include PowerPoint slides, multiple choice questions, essay questions, stories, and decision-making exercises.

Chapter 1

Introduction

The world of major sports events

Objectives

• To understand the world of major sports events and the different types of events;
• To understand there are different theoretical perspectives which can be used to examine major sports events;
• To understand the lifecycle of major sports events.

Illustrative case: how we entered the Games world

Milena M. Parent’s experience

During her undergraduate studies, Milena was certain she would go into sports medicine. All of her courses were in physics, chemistry, biology, physiology, and biochemistry – except one: Roman Civilization. In the first year of her Masters in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, she realised, as she was toiling on a 24-hour experiment, she no longer wanted this career. What she also discovered while doing some web research for a requirement of her Masters programme was a Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics link and a prompt to Sport Administration. As a former competitive figure skater, coach, volunteer, and administrator, her interest was piqued and her career path changed. Fast-forward eight months, and she had started an internship with the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie. She realised there was a lack of resources for understanding how to do her job, and this led to an idea for a doctoral thesis.

She was also bitten by the Games bug. As a full professor at the University of Ottawa, she still looks for opportunities for Games experiences. For example, in November 2009, she was seconded for four months to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, where she met Aurélia, the co-author of this book. She also consults for cities, bid committees, and organising committees to help them make the right decisions for their host region and for the event.

This book is a result of Milena’s personal hands-on experience with the protocol planning and venuisation for the Olympic Family, which included athletes, heads of state and government, international and domestic dignitaries, and special guests who visited the various sport venues of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games; her collaboration with her co-author and dozens of experts she continues to work with; her academic/expert knowledge of managing major sport events; and the consulting work, meetings, and presentations undertaken for and with major sports events and stakeholders around the world.

Aurélia Ruetsch’s experience

Aurélia is a major events professional and consultant with over 15 years’ experience across many countries and continents. She specializes in international relations, hospitality/VIPs (very important persons), and project design, planning and delivery. Her knowledge spans other areas too, such as translation, language services, and media operations, and she has accumulated a deep understanding of the inner workings of organising committees, stakeholder management, and client group relations.

Languages and travel were Aurélia's initial motivations to study translation until serendipity came into play in 2003 when she was selected for a year-long internship with Paris 2003 Saint-Denis World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations) World Championships. This experience was an eye-opener. She discovered a new industry, unique settings, exciting events, and a network of passionate, professional, and well-travelled people.

Over the years, her performances and her network, combined with her taste for languages, cultures, and new challenges, enabled her to gain experience working for a variety of events, departments, and clients. Eventually, Aurélia took a liking for Protocol at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and planned, implemented, and delivered operations for the Games Family and hospitality/VIP client groups for subsequent events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games, Rugby World Cup England 2015, and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) EURO (UEFA European Football Championships) France 2016. She was also Head of Protocol Operations and Games Family Services for the inaugural Baku 2015 European Games and the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.

Aurélia branched out of the sporting sphere working for WorldSkills Competition Abu Dhabi 2017, the global competition for skills excellence, and the universal exhibition Expo 2020 Dubai. She is presently head of international relations for WorldSkills France, a global movement where skills, like sport, are an inspiration and a tool for development for youth. She was a core member of the bid committee that won in August 2019 the right to host the WorldSkills Competition 2023 in Lyon.

Aurélia is also a board member of the Global Esports Federation, launched in December 2019 in Singapore, and she continues her mentoring and consultant activity in the sports sphere.

Why this book at this time, and why a revised edition?

There is always a need for knowledge transfer and sharing. However, the transfer of knowledge (TOK) in the organisation of major sports events is often inadequate or incomplete because of language barriers, cost, or time; motivation to do so diminishes with the event’s completion; the organising committee is collapsed immediately following the event’s completion; and most resource people are by then long gone.

Games and their environment have been undergoing major changes in part due to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Agenda 2020 (International Olympic Committee, 2014). But other forces are also affecting the event landscape. Technological changes, such as the exponential rise in (the use of) digital/social media, new events (e.g. World Beach Games, European Games), and a broader range of host countries/regions (e.g. Africa and South America) are but three examples. In addition, TOK seems to have become a PR (public relations) exercise of sorts, to reinforce the positive legacy of a Games, notwithstanding that some information will never be written. For instance, the International Relations and Protocol Report from London 2012 is very high level and doesn’t reflect at all the operational challenges the group faced venue-side, or the solutions put into place.

With the advent of Agenda 2020, we can ask ourselves whether TOK remains relevant and useful. For example, if we look at the IOC’s terminology/approach, we have gone from “Technical Manual” to “Games Guide,” even venturing into “Client Guides.” Shouldn’t the first step be knowing your Games stakeholders’ and their needs and wants? For instance, where is the IOC Athletes’ Guide? As we will see later in this book, from an organising committee Games-hosting standpoint, the stakeholder group with which the organising committee speaks the least is the athlete stakeholder group (Parent, 2005). This also ties into another debate: should the stakeholder/client define the service or should the service define the client experience? When you help organise an event, you will likely face this struggle between client functions and service functions. How you address this will partly determine not only planning-related decision-making but also the eventual success of the event.

So, there are two main reasons for this revised edition: 1) keeping up with all the changes in the major sports events landscape to offer you cutting-edge information; and 2) giving you new tools and information to help mitigate the tensions and struggles we mention above (and throughout the book) to help you create a great event for all involved.

What are events, sports events, and festivals?

Much has been written in terms of classifying events and, more specifically, sporting events and festivals. Researchers and practitioners have used size, financial objectives (for-profit vs. non-profit), sporting characteristics (e.g. elite vs. recreational), spatial characteristics (e.g. indoor vs. outdoor or single vs. multi-venue), temporal characteristics (i.e. duration and periodicity), and renown/outreach (i.e. local vs. international and media coverage) to describe events (Chappelet & Parent, 2015).

Researchers in this field have tried to provide overarching definitions for the various options, often starting by referring to Ritchie’s (1984) definition of a hallmark event as an event that can be one-time or recurring, but of a temporary nature, and whose s...

Indice dei contenuti

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• 1 Introduction: The world of major sports events
• 2 Why bid for sports events?
• 3 How to bid for an event
• 4 Leading and setting up an organising committee
• 5 Planning major sports events
• 6 Financing major sports events
• 7 Marketing, sponsorship, and look-feel
• 8 Human resources: Building high-functioning organising committees
• 9 Volunteer workforce
• 10 Culture in-house, outside, and all around
• 11 Stakeholder relations and protocol
• 12 Communication and media
• 13 Digital and social media
• 14 Technology
• 15 Venues and venuisation
• 16 Risk management and readiness
• 17 Security
• 18 Ceremonies
• 19 Games-time
• 20 Closure
• 21 Legacy and sustainability
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index