Social perception and support – An international sports event from the perspective of the residents of the host city

Abstract

With the increase of international sports events in Hungary, their number, size, coverage, required investments, social impacts, the number of stakeholders, and people’s involvement have also grown, while social support has bottomed out. How can we achieve social support? What are the factors that determine the perception of the residents of the organising city, thus, their social support? This question is answered by analysing the case of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Győr. The empirical research used quantitative methods, obtaining residents’ opinions of international sports events before and after the event. The paper shows that a general positive opinion of international sports events is positively correlated with high levels of both spectator and participation sports consumption. Also, those who are personally satisfied with their quality of life generally support the organisation of international sports events and think positively of their impact. The level of satisfaction with life is correlated with satisfaction with the city and a positive opinion of its services. The regression model shows that personal involvement (e.g., interest, participation, and volunteering) is positively related to the evaluation of the impacts of sports events.