Click name to view affiliation
To better understand the intangible impacts on host communities of major sport events, the psychic income of local residents was examined. In addition, social anchor theory was applied to potentially better explain the lasting intangible benefits of hosting the event. The impetus of the study came from the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held in Kansas City, MO. Data were collected from local community organizations before and after the event. The results suggest that some components of psychic income dissipated after the event, whereas other components did not significantly change. Furthermore, social capital increased, but neighborhood identity decreased after the event. As such, the event as a social anchor was unable to sustain residents’ psychic income after the event. Potential limitations and future research directions are also offered.
Oja is with the School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO. Wear is with the Department of Management, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia. Clopton is with the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.