Is it justified to invest huge amount of money
for organizing mega sports events, especially in a country like India where the
problems of poverty and inequality are the predominant features of the economy?
What is the impact of these events on the financial health of the host nation?
These questions were raised before and during the XIXth Commonwealth Games (CWG
2010) which was held in Delhi in October 2010. In response to these questions,
it can be said that multiple benefits can be obtained by hosting a mega sports
event. These events play significant roles in developing sports culture
in the host country by creating awareness of sports and also by providing an
impetus to the process of economic development through the provision and
revitalization of infrastructure and jobs. Moreover, these mega events help the
host nation in rebuilding its image. Thus, the impact of hosting mega sports
events is manifold.
India’s tryst with the mega sports events started
in the year 1982 when the country organized the IXth Asian Games for the first
time. Prior to that, hardly any emphasis was given to sports in the
public policies of the nation. Since 1982, a gradual increase can be observed
in the allocation of fund for the development of sports in various Five- Year
Plans.
Table
1: Allocation of fund for the development of sports in various Five- Year Plans:
|
Five-Year Plans
|
Allocation (INR billion)
|
|
1980-1985
|
0.27
|
|
1985-1989
|
1.07
|
|
1992-1997
|
2.1
|
|
1997-2002
|
4.73
|
|
2002-2007
|
11.45
|
|
2007-2012
|
46.35
|
The first step of hosting a mega sports event
is to participate in the bid process and cities across the globe compete
aggressively against each other to win the bid. For example, Chicago spent
approximately US$ 100 million on the bidding process of 2016 Olympics while
Madrid invested close to US$ 52.7 billion for the same event. Manpower
investment is another important aspect of organizing these games. It is
estimated that more than 150 experts worked for over 16,000 hours to prepare
the bid for Madrid. So, the investment is huge. It is, therefore, important to study
the benefits of holding these events. In the next section of this article, we
shall discuss some of the key benefits that can be derived by organizing mega
sports events.
The first major impact of hosting a mega sports
event is the complete revamp of the infrastructure of the host city. To
organize these events, massive investment is to be made for setting up new
stadiums, hotels, roads, flyovers and to upgrade the existing facilities. For
example, 8 new competition venues and 26 new training centres were built in
order to organize the CWG 2010. The Indira Gandhi International Airport was
modernized and the metro connectivity of the city was improved. Moreover, the
infrastructure of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida were also revamped in order to
meet the requirement of this mega event. Similar initiatives were taken during
the 1982 Asian Games. There was complete transformation of the Southern part of
Delhi with the setting up of the Games Village and the basic amenities. Roads
and flyovers were built along with new hotels including The Taj Palace, Mughal
Sheraton, Kanishka etc. A number of new stadiums, such as the Talkatora
Swimming Complex, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Yamuna Velodrome etc., were built
to organize the event.
In this
context, it is pertinent to mention that during the 2004 Olympic Games, an
amount of US$11.2 billion was invested to upgrade the infrastructure of Athens
while US$7.8 billion was spent during 2006 FIFA World Cup, held in
Germany, for upgrading the transportation system.
The infrastructural development plays a crucial
role in attracting business. The 1996 Olympic Games helped Atlanta in
establishing itself on the global business map, due to which almost 1600
companies set up their base in the city. The mega sports events also provide an
opportunity for direct and indirect employment for unskilled, semi skilled and
technically skilled professionals, which is evident from the fact that almost
1,05,000 jobs were created during the Sydney Olympics
Games. During the 1992 Olympic Games, the unemployment rate in Barcelona
declined from 18.4% to 9.6% from 1986 to 1992.
Mega sports events also help the host countries
in establishing them as attractive tourist destinations. The influx of tourists
in Barcelona reached
at 3.5 million per year between 1990 and 1994 due to the influence of Olympic
Games 1992. In Athens, the inbound tourism increased by 13% in 2005 which was a
result of the positive publicity of the Olympic Games. Inbound tourism reached
its peak during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games when almost 1.6 million
additional visitors spent around US 4.7 billion.
From the above discussion, it is clear that
multiple benefits can be derived by organizing a mega sports event. In my next
article, a few more benefits of hosting these events will be discussed.
