Hosting sporting events, but to what end? A comparative policy analysis across 17 European countries

As governments continue to invest public resources in hosting major sporting events despite uncertain returns, understanding how national event hosting policies are developed – and how they differ across countries – has become a central concern for sport policy and public governance research. This study analyses the policy development, content and aspirations to examine how national governments strategically position themselves in the competitive landscape of sport event hosting. A qualitative document analysis of 29 publicly available policy documents was executed, using a deductive coding approach. The findings reveal variation in the scope and content of policies related to event hosting. Of the countries analysed, 11 had a dedicated (sport) event hosting policy, which tended to be more comprehensive and internally consistent, particularly with respect to eligibility criteria, funding requirements and event prioritisation. Several policy documents emphasised the need for a more centralised, coordinated and strategically aligned approach to event hosting, acknowledging that the potential benefits of hosting are unlikely to be fully realised without a clear national framework. Differences in institutional roles and policy aspirations further shaped whether countries adopted broad event-hosting strategies or sport-specific policies, with the latter articulating more targeted ambitions closely linked to sporting contexts. Overall, the findings call for a reassessment of policy aspirations for major sporting events and stronger alignment between policy and research to ensure that future ambitions are both evidence-informed and realistically achievable. The study highlights how structured event-hosting policies can enhance clarity in responsibilities, decision-making and stakeholder engagement.