Comparison of Olympics and FIFA World Cup

This study focuses on comparison of all aspects such as impact, marketing strategy and gaps of two large events Olympics and the FIFA World cup.

Running Head: Business Events
BUSINESS EVENTS

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Comparison and discussion of both events................................................................................4
Reflection...................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
Reference list..............................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Event management industry is growing rapidly throughout the world and this industry is
contributing to the global economy. This study focuses on comparison of all aspects such as
impact, marketing strategy and gaps of two large events Olympics and the FIFA World cup.
In addition, this paper is adding recommendation to improve management of these kinds of
events.
Background of events (Olympics and FIFA World cup)
Olympics and FIFA World cup are two different kinds of sports events that attract people
from all over the world. Olympic mega-event consists of two categories such as summer
Olympic and winter Olympic. The first event of Olympic had taken place in Athens, Greece
in the year of 1896 (Olympic.org, 2019). Since that time, this mega event is being arranged in
every four years. Summer and winter Olympics takes place two years apart from each other.
Near about 200 nations participate in this mega event. On another hand, Jones (2017) have
mentioned that FIFA World cup is the football competition between national football teams
of men from countries that are members of FIFA and other global governing bodies of Sports.
Target market
Olympic Games consist of 33 different sports and this event considers all kinds of sports
lovers as their target market. According to Müller & Gaffney (2018), sportspersons from
more than 200 nations take an active part in Olympic Games and people from these countries
come to watch matches of Olympics. Due to this reason, organizers are being able to get huge
amount of profit from organizing this mega event. On the other hand, FIFA World cup
organizers target football fans towards this event. People from all over the world prefer to
watch FIFA World Cup and this aspect can be considered as the main reason behind success

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of this mega event. Both of these events successfully targeting people from all age group
towards sports events.
Destination image
Sports mega-events like FIFA world cup and Olympics improve destination image of a
region. There is a huge competition among different countries and cities in order to host these
events because this increases global image of those cities. As opined by Al-Emadi et al.
(2017), destination image can be defined as impression created by climate, people, places of a
destination. Organization of these mega-events increases motivation among people to visit
these places. According to Maslow's motivation theory, different factors of destination and
events increases arousal among people for visiting those place (Gál & Stănciulescu, 2017).
Attractive stadiums, proper climate, mega events attraction and basic factors like security and
safety act to build a destination image.
Comparison and discussion of both events
 Social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts
Different social impacts can be viewed during organization of FIFA world cup like equality
and providing assistance to people who are affected due to various reasons. For example, in
FIFA world cup 2018, women in Iran were allowed to visit stadium for watching live match.
Different cultural impacts can be noticed during organization of these events like building of
general infrastructure and political ramifications. For example, during Brazil world cup
different new hospitals and roads were constructed. In addition, unity among countrymen
increases during hosting mega-events like FIFA world cup (Lu, 2016). On another hand,
hosting event of Olympics increases the sense of pride, unity, and athleticism that can be
identified as social impacts. As stated by Ratten (2016), Olympics improve social and

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cultural factors of a country by increasing the sense of glory and sportsmanship. People from
different culture come and enjoy the games that increase the sense of diversity.
Economically mega-events like Olympics and FIFA world cup helps a destination to earn
more revenue. FIFA world cup 2010 has helped South Africa to earn revenue from tourism
that has helped them to flourish. However, Coelho et al. (2019) stated that hosting mega-
events like FIFA world cup and Olympics can be proved economically disastrous because
huge investment is done on bidding and making infrastructure. Just like FIFA world cup,
huge investment is done by hosting country of Olympics for making stadiums and other
infrastructure like transportation. Booming economy is expected by the host from tourism
and other ways. As mentioned by Streimikiene & Bilan (2015), some countries flourish while
some face huge debts. Hence, this factor is similar for two mega events as an organizing
destination can earn profit but chance of huge debt is also there.
Environmental impacts are noticeable during organization of Olympics. For organizing
winter Olympics in 2018 several trees are cut down that has created environmental impacts.
On the other hand, while organizing Sochi Olympics in 2014 huge environmental pollution
can be viewed due to construction. However, FIFA has taken some steps to increase
sustainability and reduce environmental impacts like deforestation, land and air pollution
while organizing FIFA world cup. Different regulations are imposed by compliance with
green building, waste management, and others.

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Figure1: Environmental impacts due to Olympics
(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/16/olympic-organisers-
destroy-sacred-south-korean-forest-to-create-ski-run)
 Marketing strategy implemented to promote branding
Olympic organizers use effective marketing strategies in order to attract maximum people
towards their event. They enter into partnership agreement with companies that can
influence millennial. Exposure of advertisements of this event on Netflix, YouTube, and
other popular networks are helping organizers to attract maximum people from millennial
group towards Olympic. In addition, they are using virtual reality for enhancing brand
awareness. Organizers of this event are advertising this event on snapchat during streaming
of live events for attracting maximum audience. According to Bruwer, Gross & Lee (2016),
the concept of Game theory postulates that firms try to achieve the most preferred outcome
through their marketing. In this case, Olympic organizers are focusing on generating
maximum benefit from their events through effective marketing.
On another hand, FIFA uses different marketing strategy in order to attract maximum
audience towards world cup matches. They use social media marketing strategy in order to

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attract people from all generations. As opined by Fan et al. (2017), the Institutional theory,
action related to implementation of marketing strategy depends on the business
environmental factors. FIFA always takes account of environmental factors before applying
marketing strategies. They advertise their event on popular TV channels to attract viewers
by means of endorsements.
 Recommendations for improvement
Different recommendations can be in marketing of these mega-events in sports that include
creating attractive blogs regarding these events. Creation of blogs can help to motivate and
create interest among those people who have less knowledge about these events. Olympic
association needs to create attractive blogs regarding unpopular games like handball.
Moreover, community of hosting regions needs to be engaged that can increase success rate
of these events. It can be seen that during organization of FIFA world cup in Brazil different
protests were organized. This can hamper on destination image and return on investment may
not be achieved. Spreading awareness regarding utility of these events can help to engage
local community.
Reflection
If I am the organizer, I would like to focus more on using virtual reality. For example, I
would enter into partnership with popular brand in order to attract people from their customer
base. If people win chance of meeting their favorite sportsperson, they will be influenced to
watch their matches as well and my event will gain more attention in this way. On another
hand, I would like to invest in programs that ensure sustainable development of society and
environment. Taking active part in this kind of events may help me to enhance brand
recognition. Being an organizer, I would like ensure regular social media activities to be kept

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in touch with existing attendees. On another hand, these marketing strategies will be able to
attract more potential attendees towards events.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that organization of mega-events like FIFA
world cup and Olympics have great impact on a region. Economical impacts may result in
creation of huge debts or can cause economic boom. Improper regulations and unethical
construction can have huge environmental impacts because unethical practice like
deforestation impacts in climate change. However, the sense of unity and sportsmanship
increases by organizing these events. Different marketing techniques like social media
marketing and endorsements are adopted for branding these events.

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Reference list
Al-Emadi, A., Kaplanidou, K., Diop, A., Sagas, M., Le, K. T., & Al-Ali Mustafa, S. (2017).
2022 Qatar world cup: impact perceptions among Qatar residents. Journal of Travel
Research, 56(5), 678-694. Retrieved from:
Bruwer, J., Gross, M. J., & Lee, H. C. (2016). Tourism destination image (TDI) perception
within a regional winescape context. Tourism Analysis, 21(2-3), 173-187. Retrieved
from:
Coelho, M. G. R., Amorim, J. G. B. D., & Almeida, V. M. C. D. (2019). Sports Mega-Event
Sponsorship: The Impact of FIFA Reputation and World Cup Image on Sponsor
Brand Equity. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 16(1). Retrieved on 6th may
2019 from:
Fan, D. X., Zhang, H. Q., Jenkins, C. L., & Tavitiyaman, P. (2017). Tourist typology in social
contact: An addition to existing theories. Tourism management, 60, 357-366.
Retrieved from:
Gál, T., & Stănciulescu, G. (2017). Sport Events Worth Travelling All Around The
Year. Knowledge Horizons. Economics, 9(3), 25-29. Retrieved from:
Jones, M. L. (2017). Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge. Retrieved
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Lu, H. (2016). Inspiration of Successful Experience of US and European Enterprises
Leveraging Sports Marketing on “Going Global” of Chinese Enterprises. Journal of
Sports Science, 4, 250-255. Retrieved from:
Müller, M., & Gaffney, C. (2018). Comparing the Urban Impacts of the FIFA World Cup and
Olympic Games From 2010 to 2016. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 42(4), 247-
269. Retrieved from:
Olympic.org, 2019. Home. Retrieved on 5th May 2019, from:
Ratten, V. (2016). The dynamics of sport marketing: Suggestions for marketing intelligence
and planning. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 34(2), 162-168. Retrieved from:
Streimikiene, D., & Bilan, Y. (2015). Review of rural tourism development
theories. Transformations in Business & Economics, 14(2), 21-34. Retrieved from: