Thomson, A., Leopkey, B., Schlenker, K., & Schulenkorf, N. (2010). Sport Event Legacies: Implications for Meaningful Legacy Outcomes. Paper presented at the Global Events Congress IV, UK Centre for Events Management, Leeds University, UK, 14-16 July 2010.

1. Alana Thomson, PhD Candidate, University of Technology, Sydney
Becca Leopkey, PhD Candidate, University of Ottawa
Dr. Katie Schlenker, University of Technology, Sydney
Dr. Nico Schulenkorf, Auckland University of Technology (presenter)
Global Events Congress IV, UK Centre for Events Management
14th
– 16th
July, 2010
Correspondence: Alana.Thomson@student.uts.edu.au

2.  Legacy as a justification for government involvement in
special events
 Increasing need to plan for long-term outcomes for a host city
from staging an event (Hiller, 2003; Preuss, 2007)
• maximise positive outcomes and limit negatives (Chalip; 2004; Preuss, 2007; Gratton &
Preuss, 2008)
 A need to clarify understanding of legacy in the sport event
context (Thomson, Schlenker & Schulenkorf, 2009)
 Aim: To empirically test five key considerations of legacy
identified by Thomson et al. (2009)

3. Consideration Explanation
Terminology Use of ‘legacy’ as opposed to another term
Legacy as bestowed or
planned
Legacy as automatically bestowed or needing to be
planned
Temporal nature of
legacy
Permanent or long-term
Permanent typically infrastructure-based
Legacy as positive or
negative
Legacy as positive and/or negative, same legacy,
different perspectives
Legacy as local and
global
Contextual and dynamic nature of sport events
Stakeholder objectives and perspectives
Challenge to balance
(Thomson, Schlenker & Schulenkorf, 2009)

4.  Australia
• 1956 Melbourne
Olympics
• 1980s – potential of
events realised
• Policy landscape adhoc
and driven by States
• Federal Strategy 2000 -
Draft
• State legislation
 focuses on event delivery
 no requirements to consult
or coordinate delivery of
event obligations
 Canada
• 1930 British Empire
Games
• 1976 Montreal Olympics
(debts paid 2006,
lessons learned)
• Federal Policy:
 sets blueprint for benefits
from hosting events
 government funding to be
spent on legacy
 Enforces cooperation with
event hosts and other levels
of government

5. Sample
 Document Analysis for 13 sport events held in Australia (7) &
Canada (6) between 1988 and 2007
 Sport events justified by specific selection criteria
Data Collection
 Post-event reporting documents
Analysis
 Qualitative and Interpretive
 Coding Frame - 5 key considerations (Thomson, Schlenker & Schulenkorf, 2009)
 Qualitative analysis software Nvivo 8 & Atlas TI (Miles & Huberman, 1994)
 Coder Checking (Miles & Huberman, 1994)

6.  Staged after the mid 1980’s (term legacy began to be used by event
organisers);
 Formal bid process required
 Evidence of government involvement (Bid and/or Event staging
process);
 The event had to demonstrate the notion of an ‘Urban Project’ through:
• Economic impact for the State economy; and/or
• Opportunities for refocusing the city (capital investments, duration of 5 days);
and/or
• Place marketing (media coverage, 1000 participants).
 Access to post-event documentation at the time of analysis

7. Australia Year Canada Year
World Police and Fire
Games
1995 Calgary Winter Olympics 1988
Sydney Olympics 2000 Pan American Games 1999
Sydney Paralympics 2000 FINA World Championships 2005
World Masters Games 2002 World Masters Games 2005
Rugby World Cup 2003 Canada Winter Games 2007
Commonwealth Games 2006 U20 FIFA World Cup 2007
FINA World Championships 2007

8.  Most reports referred to ‘legacy’
 Over time, documents increased reference to legacy
 However, terminology varies, making comparisons
difficult:
• legacy outcomes;
• legacy assets;
• legacy contributions;
• legacy obligations; and
• legacy aspects.

9.  Both ideas of planned and bestowed were evident
 Australia
• Ideas of bestowal
• Legislation in place to avoid negative legacies
 Canada
• Planning for legacy more evident
• Specific organisations to coordinate legacy from sport events
• Ideas of maximising legacy
 Major contextual difference
• Montreal Olympics negative legacy
• Canadian Sport Event Hosting Policy

10.  Legacies exist in time
• Long-term, permanent, enduring, transferable
 A need to set boundaries for strategic management
 Looking back and looking forward
 Legacies evolve from Games time - reflect community
interests and needs

11.  Legacy largely positive
• celebratory reporting and limited critical reflection
 Canada connection between success and legacy
 Legacy only negative when previous events are
discussed for legacy comparison
• “Several previous Olympic Games have left host cities and
underwriters with an unwelcome legacy in the form of large
public debt. NSW Government legislators sought to avoid
this outcome” (Sydney Olympics 2000)

12.  Legacies are available to everyone, everywhere
 The literature argues there is a critical need to develop:
• Defined boundaries for legacy promises and planning
• Consideration of stakeholders
• Strategies to balance objectives and maximise outcomes
 Instead, post-event reports are celebratory and vague
with limited demonstration of strategies for legacy
planning

13.  Findings illustrate a lack of transparency and
accountability for legacy conceptualisation and
practical management applications
 Over 2 decades of event reporting shows a limited
increase in sophistication of legacy planning,
implementation and evaluation
• Celebratory claims
• Limited accountability to stakeholders
• Limited ability to compare events

14.  Management Implications – what is needed?
• Clear conceptualisations of legacy – starting at the event bid stage
• Clarification of terminology
• Clear identification of stakeholders
• Critical outline of stakeholder and legacy management process and
evaluation
 Future Research
• More international sport event contexts
• Influences of varying policy contexts
• Towards best practice in legacy planning and reporting

15. Chalip, L. (2004). Beyond Impact: A General Model for Sport Event Leverage. In B.
Ritchie & D. Adair (Eds.), Sport Tourism: Interrelationships, Impacts and Issues (pp. 226-
252). on-line e-book: Channelview Publications.
Gratton, C., & Preuss, H. (2008). Maximizing Olympic Impacts by Building up
Legacies. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 25(14), 1922-1938.
Hiller, H. (2003). Toward a Science of Olympic Outcomes: The Urban Legacy. Paper
presented at the Legacy of the Olympic Games 1984-2000, International Symposium.
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: an expanded
sourcebook. California: Sage Publications.
Preuss, H. (2007). The Conceptualisation and Measurement of Mega Sport Tourism.
Journal of Sport & Tourism, 12(3-4), 207-227.
Thomson, A., Schlenker, K., & Schulenkorf, N. (2009, 6-8 July). The Legacy-Factor:
Towards conceptual clarification in the sport event context. Paper presented at the
International Event Management Research Symposium, Gold Coast, Australia , pp.360-
374

16.  Australia - Commonwealth Department of Industry Science
and Resources. (2000). Towards a National Sports Tourism
Strategy (Draft): Commonwealth of Australia. Available from:
http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/feddep/SportTourism
Strategy.pdf
 Canada - Canadian Heritage. (2008). Sport Canada policy for
hosting international sport events. Available from:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/sc/pol/acc/2008/doc-eng.cfm.

17.  Thomson, A., Schlenker, K., & Schulenkorf, N. (2009, 6-8 July). The Legacy-Factor:
Towards conceptual clarification in the sport event context. Paper presented at the
International Event Management Research Symposium, Gold Coast, Australia , pp.360-
374, presentation available: http://www.slideshare.net/alanathomson/2009-07-07-the-
legacy-factor-emrc-final-share-copy
 Thomson, A., Schlenker, K., & Schulenkorf, N. (2009). Event legacies: An Empirical Testing
of the Legacy Concept. Paper presented at the 15th Annual SMAANZ Conference,
Facilitating Sustainable Sport Management Practices, 26-29 November 2009, Bond
University, Gold Coast, Australia, p.102, presentation available:
http://www.slideshare.net/alanathomson/thomson-schlenker-schulenkorf-smaanz-2009-
event-legacies