Introduction
There are many sports events currently, and their influence on the economy is huge. To receive those effects, the host countries or regions of those sports events spend money to attract people who are interested in the events. This article discusses the top three biggest sports events in the world and how much economic impact can be expected during and after the events.
Olympic (summer)
The Olympics is well-known and has a very long history. Thus, it hugely influences the host country selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). To receive its potential power to boost the economy, every four years, at least three countries make a bid to be the host country. At this event, an enormous number of people visit the host country to watch various sports or athletes competing for the highest podium. Those watchers would spend money during the huge event. So, to attract them, usually, the host country’s government increases its expenditure on construction, such as creating a brand-new stadium and an athletic village. The Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, and the government officially announced that the economic ripple effect would reach 32 trillion yen (about 22 billion US dollars calculated at 140 yen = $1) by 2030 in 2015. Its effects include both direct and legacy effects. However, this number has been expected to decrease due to the spread of COVID-19.
The World Cup (soccer)
According to the Sports Brief survey, soccer’s popularity is at its highest (Tendu, 2022), so the soccer World Cup brings so much excitement to the host country. The next World Cup will be held in Qatar this year. Therefore, people around the country gather to watch the world’s best soccer event. Even though the last host country, Russia, spent an enormous amount of money in 2014. Russia constructed 12 stadiums, 13 hospitals, and 93 training spots. However, about 14 billion US dollars, which occupied between 4 and 6% of the Russian GDP, were brought into Russia from the soccer event (Guivernau, 2019). Recently, Qatar has constructed seven new stadiums to hold one of the world’s biggest sports events.
Tour de France
This cycling competition event takes place in a region of France or countries around it every year. The Tour de France first started in 1903 (119 years ago) to enhance the sales of newspapers. As it gained popularity among both cyclists and bystanders, teams from other countries joined to compete. Currently, 22 teams have joined for the 2022 stage. ASO (Amaury Sports Organization) receives more than $12 million as an annual profit even though it spends so much money promoting its events, including a caravan handing out various kinds of goods to fans. Furthermore, whenever the region is chosen to be the goal of the Tour de France, there is an expected rise in the number of tourists. The latest Tour de France brought about 12 million euros even though the host country spent two million (Carette, 2022).
Conclusion
There are a lot more sports events that were not discussed in this article, like the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup, as so many sports exist in this world. The host countries spend a massive amount of money to attract people, whereas the money is expected to come back from the economic ripple and direct effects. Therefore, investing in and promoting such events brings a promise of profit to the investors or organizers. It may be interesting to watch sports events from different perspectives.
References
Carette, J. (2022). The economic benefits of hosting the Tour de France. [online] delano.lu. Available at: https://delano.lu/article/the-economic-benefits-of-hosti [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Guivernau, A. (2019). The economic Impact of the Russia World Cup. [online] The Economy Journal. Available at: https://www.theeconomyjournal.eu/texto-diario/mostrar/1522249/the-economic-impact-of-the-russia-world-cup [Accessed 30 September 2022].
Tendu, B. (2022). Revealed! Top 15 most popular sports in the world in 2022. [online] SportsBrief – Sport news. Available at: https://sportsbrief.com/facts/top-listicles/16715-revealed-top-15-popular-sports-world-2022/ [Accessed 30 September 2022].
