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Research question Mega sport events are widely instrumentalized as nation branding opportunities. This study aimed to understand how different media frames mega sport events and their impacts on destination promotion, using the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as an example.Research methods Using the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as an example, an inductive content analysis of 485 domestic and 320 Western media articles was conducted through Leximancer and NVivo.Results and findings The results revealed that there are major differences in the use of frames. The domestic media framed the event in positive ways with five frames: national confidence, traditional culture, Olympic spirit, application of technology, and responses to COVID. Domestic media has highlighted a leverage opportunity for the host destination. In contrast, Western media predominantly framed the event negatively: COVID, diplomatic boycott, changes between Two Games, and the application of technology as a “show off”. This didn’t enhance the destination’s imaging position.Implications The findings provide implications for countries seeking to host mega sport events to (re)construct destination image.Research contribution This study advances nuanced understandings of media framing of mega sport events and provides extensions of media narratives and counternarratives literature.
Liu et al. (2025) studied this question.