Measuring the impact of events
There are various methodologies that have been used to measure the impact of events.
There are various methodologies that have been used to measure the impact of events, often focussing on specific areas such as the economic, participation or tourism impacts. Other aspects of impact, such as the social or community engagement, sustainability, or human rights impacts are also increasingly being studied.
A lack of consistent methodology or reported outcomes can make it difficult to compare different events or to assess potential legacy outcomes for upcoming bids.
Resources and reading
- The Utility of Including Regular Sport Team Events in Event Portfolios, opens in a new tab, Vitor Sobral, Sheranne Fairley, Danny O’Brien, Journal of Sport Management, Volume 37(1), pp.15-26, (2023). Event portfolios are a useful way for destination managers to holistically manage their community’s collection of events and, through strategic integration and common objectives, more effectively produce benefits. However, regular sport events such as those played by professional sport teams in a sport league have received little attention from event portfolio managers and researchers. Understanding the value and utility of sport team event assets can inform the successful integration of these events into event portfolios. This research used qualitative methods to examine how team asset components can contribute to achieving event portfolio objectives. The results have significance for event tourism researchers and practitioners and demonstrate that contributions are largely founded on the focal professional sport league structure, which provides constant content and regular communications with key target markets. Analysis of the findings led to the development of a model on the utility of including team events in an event portfolio.
- Event leverage: a systematic literature review and new research agenda, opens in a new tab, Nico Schulenkorf, Jon Welty Peachey, Guangzhou Chen, et al., European Sport Management Quarterly, (26 December 2022). Despite the significant increase in event leverage publications as well as growing interest from event planners and policymakers, scholars have yet to synthesize academic contributions in this burgeoning field. Our systematic review addressed this issue and provides a new agenda for event leverage research. We identified a growing trend of event leverage publications overall; a publication focus on (sport) business/management and tourism/hospitality journals; a predominance of mega- and large-scale event settings; a concentration on business/economic and social goals; a strong emphasis on empirical studies with qualitative research approaches; and a lack of research contributions from scholars in low-and middle-income countries. Based on our findings, we discuss practical and theoretical implications and conclude by proposing a future agenda for event leverage research that recommends an advancement of leverage conceptualizations; a diversification of research contexts and benefactors; a specification of focal outcomes related to a different event types and sizes; an expansion of perspectives including an acknowledgement of changes over time; and a clarification of terminology used in event leverage scholarship.
- Re-analysis, measurement and misperceptions of cost overruns at Olympic Games, opens in a new tab, Holger Preuss, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics , Volume 14(3), pp.381-400, (February 2022). The so-called ‘Oxford Study’ by Flyvbjerg et al shows Olympic cost overrun of 170-750% with a substantial risk of a further cost overrun above this range in the future. The aim of this paper is to re-analyse the results by using a method in accordance with the international convention of comparing across time and geographies. The dataset used has abundantly more governmental data than in the Oxford Study. The results of the Oxford Study for the period of 2000–2016 could not be replicated. It is argued why the statistical analysis and their data reliability are misleading, thus leading to a discovery of six typical misperceptions. In contrast to those authors, this paper shows cost overruns (Olympics 2000–2014) for direct non-OCOG investments in the range of 13–178%. Further, it shows that the costs of the Olympic Games represent less than 0.28% of the GDP; hence, it is clear that the Games cannot cause a severe national economic crisis. This paper provides a discussion on the underlying assumptions of the Oxford study, thus providing valuable insights for politicians who intend to submit an Olympic bid, and contextualises cost overruns caused by fixed deadlines and long planning horizons. I disagree with the claim by Flyvbjerg et al. that hosts give a blank cheque to the IOC and I contend that demands and a tight coupling are fixed in the Host City Contract, thus negating the blank cheque assertion.
- A resource-based view of post-Games legacy strategy: the case of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic games, opens in a new tab, Jinsu Byun, Becca Leopkey, Sport in Society, Volume 24(12), pp.2139-2158, (October 2021). Using the Resource-Based View, this research extends our knowledge of the strategic management of Olympic legacies in the post-event phase. A case study of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games was built using multiple archival sources and interviews. Four post-event legacy resources were identified: physical, reputational, intellectual, and human. Findings also revealed the valuable, rare, and inimitable attributes of these resources. Post-Games legacy strategies, as well as systems and processes to help manage these resources are also presented along with implications for practice and future research.
- Evaluating the social impacts of events: in search of unified indicators for effective policymaking, opens in a new tab, Martin Wallstam, Dimitri Ioannides, Robert Pettersson, Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, Volume 12(2), pp.122-141, (2020). Policymakers in destinations regularly struggle to identify effective ways to evaluate the impacts of planned events. Especially problematic is the relative lack of knowledge about the social impacts that planned events incur. This challenge is largely attributable to the historic focus on economic impacts. However, this trend is shifting along with the realization that events often fail to deliver on promised economic trickle-down effects. This paper addresses the absence of a unified view on social impacts, and how this impedes destinations that aspire to work strategically with planned events. Policymakers at the destination level currently lack the common language needed to effectively measure these impacts. We use a Delphi approach to pinpoint social impact indicators that are of use in policy settings. The results show six indicators that meet the study criteria, thereby contributing towards a unified set of indicators for dealing with strategic event management at the destination level.
- Evaluating event economic impact: rigour versus reality?, opens in a new tab, Davies, L., Coleman, R. and Ramchandani, G., International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Volume 4(1), pp.31-42, (2013). The paper considers the methods used to evaluate events in the context of balancing academic rigour with the everyday practical realities and constraints facing event organisers and researchers. It discusses existing and emerging methodological considerations and techniques for dealing with these. The paper will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners from the event industry carrying out or commissioning economic impact studies.
- Common indicators for measuring the impact of events, opens in a new tab (1st edition), Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), (October 2021). Overseen by ASOIF’s Commercial Advisory Group (CAG), the report consolidates relevant and easily available data in a clear way to ensure consistency of data gathering and reporting between events, with the intent of helping the industry deliver, and demonstrate, true value to investors and policy makers. It provides event professionals with a practical tool throughout the lifecycle of events, including a defined set of 30 “input”, 50 “output” and 10 “outcome” Key Performance Indicators from which rights owners and partners can gather data relevant to their own event objectives.
- Event impact standards, opens in a new tab, International Association of Event Hosts (IAEH), (accessed 24 October 2025). IAEH has worked with experienced event hosts, event owners and industry experts to provide the following guidance, and standard definitions, for measuring the impact of events and contributing to global sustainable development goals. IAEH members have made this guidance openly available and recommend that all research assessing impacts of major events aligns with it, whether for rights-owners, city or national governments, sports or arts organisations, tourism organisations, commercial sponsors, venues or charities. The guidance also aligns with the OECD Recommendation on Global Events and Local Development, adopted at the Ministerial Council Meeting on 30 May 2018 by all 38 OECD member countries. The Recommendation sets out internationally agreed framework conditions for realising sustainable global events.
- eventIMPACTS, opens in a new tab, (accessed 24 October 2025). Developed by a consortium of UK-based organisations that have an interest in staging or supporting major public events, the eventIMPACTS ToolKit is intended to provide organisers and supporters of public events with some key guidance and good practice principles for evaluating the Economic, Social, Environmental and Media related impacts associated with their event. Each area of impact has links to the available supporting documents, case studies and survey tools.
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