The impact of the broadcasting of sports events on the image and awareness of host cities abroad

• Main Author: Egbert R. Oldenboom
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography 2009-06-01
• Series: Belgeo
• Subjects: image; awareness; economic development; sports events; impact; evaluation
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/10255
• ISSN: 1377-2368; 2294-9135

The most frequently-mentioned benefit of sports events for a host city is the improved image and awareness in other countries, as a result of the broadcasting of the matches. However not much empirical research has yet been done measuring this impact of a sports event. This paper investigates the results of a survey in five European countries during the European Championship Football in 2000 (Euro 2000). The survey measured the awareness and image of the Netherlands and the Dutch host cities before and after the event.The survey confirmed effects on the awareness of host cities abroad, but to a modest extent. Moreover, it was possible to establish a relationship between the effects in a specific country and the performance of its national team during the tournament. The awareness appears also to be determined by the timing of the match in the tournament : the later the match, the more awareness it creates.Before the tournament the image of the Netherlands in France was rather poor. The better a national team fared during the tournament, the greater the impact. The hosting of Euro 2000 therefore seems to have been especially beneficial for the image and awareness in France, the winners of the tournament. The role of expectations may help to explain some unexpected results in the UK and Spain. This issue deserves further research.