The Internationalization of Sport Events and Leagues

Pop-economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner, in their work Freakonomics (2005) explained that sports, along with music, movies and fashion is one of the glamour professions. With the opportunity for staff within the industry to partake in international travel, to work in a fast-paced, constantly changing work environment with pressurized deadlines, life working in the field of international sports events is definitely at the coal-face of events management. Nevertheless Emery (2010) highlights that behind the supposed glamour there is a complex side to sport event management that must be considered. This chapter reviews this area by examining the development of international sports events and leagues.The initial global development of sport occurred throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century as Christian Missionaries and European colonization spread sport over the globe (Thoma and Chalip, 1996). Some of these events can still be seen today, represented in practices such as the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the FIFA World Cup and other significant sporting events. However over the past two decades there has been another phase of development in global sport. This has been fostered by political, economic, social and technological developments such as shrinking domestic markets in Western countries, increasingly global workforce and the proliferation of satellite and internet telecommunications.