Governance of Post-Olympic Games Legacy Organizations: A Comparative Study

in Journal of Sport Management

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Jinsu Byun Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

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Mathew Dowling Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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Becca Leopkey Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2021-0224
Keywords:
sport events; sport governance; mega events legacy; qualitative research
First Published Online:
29 Jun 2022
In Print:
Volume 37: Issue 1
Page Range:
27–38
Restricted access

This study examines the governance of post-Olympic Games legacy organizations. A cross-case comparative analysis was completed by focusing on post-Games legacy organizations from three Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010, and PyeongChang 2018). Drawing on a governance framework, this research investigates the politics (stakeholder relationships), polity (institutional structures), and policy (the policy content and instruments) dimensions of governance, and explores modes of governance that facilitate collective action taken by these organizations. Data for this study included archival materials and semistructured interviews with key representatives from the relevant organizations. Three different post-Games legacy organization governance modes (public–private, interactive, and self-governance) were identified, and a conceptual model of the governance of post-Games legacy organizations is proposed. The findings have theoretical and practical implications that expand our understanding of the governance of Olympic legacy.

Byun (jbyun@ua.edu) is corresponding author.

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