Mega-Events Only? Exploring the Importance of Investigating the Impact of Major Sports Events and Residents’ Support for Smaller Events

Resident support has become a key success factor in bidding for and hosting sporting events. While the impact of major events on resident support for similar sized events has been extensively researched, there is a gap in understanding how events influence support for smaller events. This research note addresses this gap by moving towards a more holistic view that goes beyond individual events and retrospectively analyzes the impact of three major events on resident support for sporting events of different sizes. Through a critical review of the existing literature, this study sheds light on the different perceptions of major events and their impact on support for small, medium, and large sporting events. The results show that perceived negative environmental impact on support is consistent for different event sizes. This contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the factors that influence support for events and encourages further research in this area.