{"id":1792,"date":"2018-02-06T11:30:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T17:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1792"},"modified":"2018-02-20T15:29:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T21:29:41","slug":"sporting-mega-events-and-urban-inequality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/02\/06\/sporting-mega-events-and-urban-inequality\/","title":{"rendered":"Sporting Mega-Events and Urban Inequality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Sam Churchill, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Large-scale sporting events, including the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, are in the international spotlight this winter. These mega-events are often heralded for promoting economic mobility and social cohesion, and cities across the world bid for events like the Olympics to cement their identities as world-class cities. For sociologists, these events also highlight how inequality operates in urban spaces. <\/span><\/p>\n

Under the assumption that stadium construction promotes local growth, many cities rely on both tax subsidies from their local populace along with private investment. Financial investors tout the unprecedented trend of stadium-building in the past decades as opportunities for job growth, tourism, and other revenue boosts. However, much research suggests that stadiums and major sport events do not have broad economic benefits for their host cities, as benefits tend to be distributed unequally along racial and class lines. While local resistance has grown substantially in recent years, resource-laden investing firms and political coalitions that advocate for such projects are largely successful at squelching these efforts.<\/h5>\n