Results

Descriptive Statistics
The figures in Table 1 document that the majority of the respondents would have supported applications for the Winter Olympics and World Skiing championship (Nordic Games). This pattern applied to both genders. This was different for the UEFA Championship, which was less supported, and where the data showed significant gender differences. Among those who had made up several billions their minds, 62% of men and 47% of women would have voted yes.

The football championship also received less support from men than the other two events. Respectively 80% and 79% of men who had made up their minds would have supported applications for the World Skiing Championship and the Winter Olympics.
However, even if people welcomed the events, they were not automatically willing to support them financially, as seen from Table 2. About 50% of those who would have voted yes were also willing to spend earmarked taxes on them. Of the entire sample, about one third was willing to support the two winter events, while one fourth was willing to support the football championship. Hence, the pattern of the referendums and the willingness to pay questions corresponded.

Table 1: Referendum to Host the Events

Yes No Don’t know
Winter Olympics 71% 24% 5%
UEFA Football Championship 51% 43% 6%
FIS World Skiing Championship 77% 18% 5%
N = 980

Table 2: Willingness to Support the Events by Earmarked Taxes

Of total sample (980)
Of yes votes
Winter Olympics 52% 36%
UEFA Football Championship 52% 26%
FIS World Skiing Championship 51% 32%

The former three variables in Table 3 refer to some of the most common motives for watching sports, according to the literature (Wann, 1997). These variables were tested as explanatory variables in the regressions and logistic regressions in Table 4-6 which aimed to explain the attitudes towards the events.

The respondents graded their answers by means of a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 indicated strongly agree and 1 totally disagree. The social and affective dimensions consisted of two variables, both with satisfying reliability (Cronbach’s alphas of 0.758 and 0.733). The self-esteem dimension reflected to what degree the respondents identified themselves emotionally with athletes or teams they supported.

This dimension included only one variable. The variable called economic benefits expressed if the respondents also considered it important that the events generate economic benefits for the host destination/region, and this dimension included only one variable.
All but the self-esteem variable had quite high values, i.e. between 7.22 and 7.47 on a scale from 1 to 10. This indicates that both the social and affective dimensions played an important role. Additionally, the respondents also considered important that the event generated economic benefits for the host region.