Creating sport participation from sport events: making it happen

Sport participation is a claimed benefit of elite sport events, but the facts do not support that claim, and means to capitalise upon events in order to build participation have yet to be developed. Through a combination of dialectical inquiry, brainstorming, and nominal group, 12 expert panellists were invited to consider the challenges, opportunities, and prospects of leveraging sport events to enhance sport participation at local levels. The model consists of three elements: (1) the hierarchical nature of the context (culture; opinions and attitudes; systems and structures), (2) three types of organisations with a stake in the leveraging process (event, sport, and non-sport entities), and (3) resources needed (human, physical, and knowledge). The centre reflects the core, which is sport participation. A series of strategic questions are presented to guide formulation and implementation of strategies and tactics for leveraging sport events to build sport participation. The findings are consistent with sport development outcomes from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. It is concluded that sport events can be leveraged to enhance sport participation if the necessary alliances among sport organisations, event organisers and non-sport stakeholders are forged to integrate each event into the marketing mix of sport organisations. It is also noted that potential barriers to enhanced participation need to be addressed, particularly lack of available capacity to absorb new participants, crowding out of local participation by the event, and the disincentives resulting from elite performances that seem outside the reach of aspiring participants.