Global Events

What a global event is and why nations want to host

A global event is a major competition that draws performers and audiences from many countries, such as the Olympic Games or a World Cup. Hosting one is a huge undertaking, and countries compete to be chosen.

They want it because the benefits go well beyond the competition itself. The seven advantages Cambridge names are stadia and training facilities, home advantage, increase in national pride, improved tourism, increased employment, legacy implications and infrastructure.

Learn them as a set of seven. A question asking for the advantages of being a host nation is worth up to seven marks, one per point.

Stadia and training facilities

Hosting requires the country to build or upgrade stadia to hold the events and training facilities where performers prepare, such as pitches, courts, pools and gyms.

For the host, this means world-class venues are available during the event, and the competing performers get properly equipped facilities rather than makeshift ones.

Afterwards the facilities remain in the country. If they are maintained and made available, they can be used by local clubs and schools, which supports sport at participation level as well as elite level.

Home advantage

Home advantage means the host nation's performers compete in their own country, in familiar venues and conditions, in front of a home crowd.

Familiarity removes the disruption of long travel, a different climate and unfamiliar surroundings, so performers are better prepared and less unsettled. The support of a home crowd can lift performance.

The result is that the host nation often performs better than expected. A home crowd cheering for the host can also put pressure on visiting performers.

• No long-distance travel or jet lag before competing
• Familiar venues, surfaces and conditions
• Strong home support that can raise performance
• Visiting performers may be unsettled by a hostile or one-sided crowd

Increase in national pride and improved tourism

Hosting brings the country together. The population follows the event, supports its performers and celebrates their success, which increases national pride and a shared sense of identity.

The effect reaches beyond sport: the country is presented to a worldwide audience, which raises its profile and gives people a positive image of the nation and its culture. Pride also encourages participation, because seeing home performers succeed on home ground inspires more people to take part.

A global event also attracts visitors from other countries: spectators, families of performers, officials and media. They need accommodation, food, transport and entertainment while they are there.

The longer tourism benefit is that the event advertises the country to millions watching at home. Viewers see the venues, the cities and the scenery, which can persuade them to visit later, so tourism improves both during the event and afterwards.

Increased employment and infrastructure

Hosting creates a large amount of work. Venues must be built and upgraded, and once they are open they need staff: security, catering, cleaning, transport, medical support and event management. The extra visitors also create work in hotels, restaurants, shops and transport while the event is on.

Some of these jobs are long term, particularly in the new venues and improved transport systems, but many are temporary and end when the event finishes.

Infrastructure means the basic systems a country needs to function: roads, railways, airports, public transport, power, water and communications. A global event forces improvements because the existing systems cannot cope with the numbers involved.

These improvements are built for the event but remain in place afterwards, so they benefit the whole population, not just sport. Better transport makes it easier for everyone to reach work, school and leisure facilities, and easier for performers and spectators to reach training and competition venues.

• Construction work building and upgrading venues and transport
• Event staff: security, catering, cleaning, medical and management
• Tourism-related work in hotels, restaurants, shops and transport
• Roads, railways, airports and public transport improved and left in place afterwards

Legacy implications

Legacy means what is left behind after the event. It covers the benefits that outlast the competition: facilities that continue in use, improved transport, more people taking part in sport, and the country's raised profile.

A good legacy turns one event into lasting gains. Venues become community sports centres, school sport benefits from better facilities, and the inspiration of watching home performers can increase participation for years.

Legacy can also be negative, and this is where evaluation marks are won. Venues can fall into disuse if nobody needs or can afford them, and the cost of maintaining them can fall on the country long after the event.

The drawbacks of hosting

Evaluation questions expect you to weigh the advantages against the problems. The biggest is cost. Building venues and infrastructure is enormously expensive, and the money may be public, so it is not available for hospitals, schools or other services.

Displacement is the second. Hosting can require land, so people may be moved from their homes and communities broken up to make way for venues, and local businesses and residents may be pushed out by rising prices.

The third is facilities falling into disuse. Stadia and venues built for one event are often too large or too expensive for the host country to maintain afterwards. If they are not used, they stand empty while still costing money to keep, and the promised legacy never arrives.

A strong evaluation balances these against the seven advantages rather than pretending the problems do not exist.

• Cost: enormous spending on venues and infrastructure, often from public funds that could be spent elsewhere
• Displacement: homes and communities cleared to make room for venues, and local people priced out
• Disuse: purpose-built venues left empty and expensive to maintain, so the promised legacy is not delivered
• Debate about whether the money and disruption were worth the benefits received