Local resident support for hosting a major sport event: the role of perceived personal and community impacts

<p dir="ltr"><b>Research Question</b><b>:</b> Resident support is critical for the successful hosting of major sport events and is closely linked to event impact perceptions. This study investigated determinants of support for a major sport event. The key independent variables were perceived event-related personal impacts and perceived event-related community impacts.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Research Methods</b><b>: </b>Residents (n = 603) of two potential Commonwealth Games host cities in New Zealand were asked about their support for the event. Event impact perceptions (costs and benefits) across personal and community dimensions were measured. The triple bottom line approach complements social exchange theory and social representations theory to underpin this study. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse the relationship between impacts and event support. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyse the relationship between the levels of the event impacts (i.e. personal and community) and event support. Paired sample t-tests were used to explore difference between personal and community quality of life perceptions based on each of the event impacts.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Results and Findings</b><b>: </b>Overall, residents were supportive of bidding for the Commonwealth Games and various event impact perceptions are related. Based on Social Representations Theory, residents likely view the positive benefits of hosting a major event of this type as outweighing the negative. Several significant impacts emerged – both positive and negative. Positive impacts (pride) were perceived to have the greatest effect on event support, whereas each of the negative impact perceptions (opportunity cost, justice) were linked to decreased event support.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Implications:</b> The results of this study provide important insights on community member perceptions of major sport events. The tendency of community members to focus on negatives could be counteracted with targeted communication strategies.</p>