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Leveraging sport mega-events: new model or convenient justification?

A range of recent studies have shown that the social and economic impacts of mega-events are often disappointing. This has stimulated interest in the notion of leveraging; an approach which views mega-events as a resource which can be levered to achieve outcomes which would not have happened automatically by staging an event. This paper aims to advance understanding about leveraging – by exploring the rationale for this approach and by identifying different types of leveraging and their relative merits. The work critically explores whether mega-event leveraging represents a new approach or whether it simply provides a convenient justification for expensive and controversial mega-event projects. The paper aims to enhance conceptual understanding, rather than to explore a specific case empirically; but a series of examples are used for illustrative purposes. These are drawn from projects adopted in association with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.