Hosting major sporting events have actually done the hosting countries and their people more good than bad. One cannot agree with the statement that ‘hosting major sporting events create more problems than benefits.’ To argue my case, this essay will examine the economic benefits for hosting major events, how will the society benefit and what will the governments of the hosting countries gain. The discussion shall be largely confined to the Olympic Games, the F1 formulae race and the World Cup. Hosting major events may be defined as a national project to provide a platform for the best sportsmen and sportswomen all around the world to compete with each other.
The increase in revenues from tourist spending, air flights, sponsorships by both local and overseas companies, broadcasting fees, tickets for seats and merchandising of products related to the major sporting events bring huge economic benefits to the hosting countries. Singapore for example recently held the F1 formulae race. The F1 race being a major sporting event attracted many F1 fans from all over the world to come to Singapore to watch it. As a result, more tourists flew to Singapore and more revenues are earned from the increased air flights. Due to the surge in tourists coming to Singapore, more hotel rooms are also being booked during the F1 race period. Recently, a survey done in Singapore also shows that a tourist who came to watch F1 race in Singapore last year far exceeded the spending of a normal tourist. This has helped to improve the Singapore economy. However, the hosting of a major sporting event also involved high costs. Money is needed to build new infrastructures and facilities like stadiums and roads if they are not adequate or up to international standards to host the event. To make the event successful, the country will also need to pay high amount to attract professionals to organize the event so that the sporting event is run smoothly and safely. In addition, the country will have to provide prize money, free lodging and entertainment for the sportsmen and sportswomen that came for the event. All these things involve costs but the point is some of these cost can actually be saved or covered by other revenues. For example, Singapore saved the cost and trouble of building extra roads and upgrading of roads for the F1 race because the roads are adequate and already well built. The country can also get sponsorships from both local and overseas companies and use profits from ticket sales and merchandising of products related to the event to cover the cost. If the sports event is a success, the country will have high chances of hosting the same or other different major sporting events and this will bring in more tourists in the future. Therefore, the economic benefits far outweigh the cost involve in hosting the event.
The society benefits from the surge of tourists coming to watch the major sporting events. For example, the F1 race in Singapore created many jobs in the service sectors. Hotels, restaurants and places of entertainment will need to hire more people to handle the extra customers. This will help to solve the problem of unemployment and benefit the society. Shops will also earn more profits from the spending of the tourists. The service sector will also improve in the sense that firms will want to attract more tourists to spend and to do this, they will need to improve their service attitude. However, the surge of tourists can also create social problems. There are cases of tourists drunk and getting into fights with the local people causing unrest to the society. However, most tourists are well behaved and those very few tourists causing trouble are dealt with appropriately without causing additional troubles. In addition, if the laws of the hosting countries are strict, tourists will need to think twice before getting into fights or any other activities that cause harm to the society.
The building of new infrastructures and facilities for hosting the sports events also benefit the society. For example, China the country which hosted the recent Olympic Games needed to build stadiums, swimming pools, tennis court, lodging place and many other facilities that are of world-class standards. Many people think that it’s a waste of money to build new infrastructures and facilities because these buildings cost millions of dollars to build. Moreover, the usage of the facilities after the event is questionable. However, the process of building these infrastructures have already benefit people by create job opportunities in the construction sector. After the infrastructure is being built, the China Olympic Stadium which looked liked a bird’s nest outside, for example, becomes a majestic view for the Chinese. It will inevitably become a place for the Chinese and the tourist to tour in the future. In addition, after the world class infrastructures and facilities are built, sportsmen and sportswomen can make use of the excellent facilities to train and improve their abilities. Furthermore, future major sports events can be hosted in these well built facilities and infrastructures.
Hosting major sports events can help unite people together and this will allow the government to achieve one of her political goals. When a country decides to host a major sporting event, lots of help is needed from the citizens to make the event successful. In the case of the F1 race hosted in Singapore last year, Singaporeans become more united in the sense that they all work together to achieve a common goal and that goal was the make the first F1 race in Singapore a successful one. Along the process, there will be conflicts among people working together. People from all over the world will judge Singaporeans on how well they will be at hosing such a major sporting event. However, these problems will be removed as Singaporeans will naturally unite and work together to show that they can do it. During the 2002 World Cup held by Japan and South Korea, the South Koreans unite together and cheered their team on strongly and in the end the South Korea team emerged fourth position which is their highest position in history. All these examples show that hosting major sports events is a good way to bond people in the country together.
The hosting of major sports events helps hosting countries improve their economy, creates a better society and achieve their political goals. More importantly, the hosting of a major sporting event creates history for the country, something that is invaluable.
