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Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Mega-sporting events such as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been observed to serve as highly influential tools for the promotion of positive media impressions surrounding the host destination. Drawing from the fie...

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Main Author: Jenkins, David
Other Authors: Botha, Elsamari
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Management Studies 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Jenkins, David
author2 Botha, Elsamari
author_browse Botha, Elsamari
Jenkins, David
author_facet Botha, Elsamari
Jenkins, David
author_sort Jenkins, David
collection Thesis
description Mega-sporting events such as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been observed to serve as highly influential tools for the promotion of positive media impressions surrounding the host destination. Drawing from the field of existing knowledge surrounding the sociology of sport, the media and media content analysis, this study reports on a media content analysis conducted on the local news coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in selected South African newspapers. Monitoring coverage over and eight-year pre- and post-event period, the analysis identified five principal themes: stadiums; safety and security; Bafana-Bafana; social-impact; and economic-impact. The findings indicated a cyclical-type shift in conversation, where focus was placed on impressions of host-nation capabilities and readiness in the lead up to the event, to profound euphoria, unity and pride during the hosting stages of the event, and finally onto critical impact and legacy evaluation in the post-event phase. The sentiment of the coverage was largely balanced across all periods, with the total number of positive references only slightly exceeding that of negative references. These findings serve as critical insight to the work of event organisers, media managers and policy developers alike, whom all hold a vested interest in managing the perceived impressions of mega-sporting events. Practical implications for these stakeholders include: i) establishing greater clarity with respect to the overall signalling benefits of mega-sporting; and ii) informing media management campaigns to reinforce the power of mega-sporting events as a positive reference point - especially in the post-event legacy period.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:57.504Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
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publisher School of Management Studies
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20535 Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa Jenkins, David Botha, Elsamari George, Richard Marketing Mega-sporting events such as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been observed to serve as highly influential tools for the promotion of positive media impressions surrounding the host destination. Drawing from the field of existing knowledge surrounding the sociology of sport, the media and media content analysis, this study reports on a media content analysis conducted on the local news coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in selected South African newspapers. Monitoring coverage over and eight-year pre- and post-event period, the analysis identified five principal themes: stadiums; safety and security; Bafana-Bafana; social-impact; and economic-impact. The findings indicated a cyclical-type shift in conversation, where focus was placed on impressions of host-nation capabilities and readiness in the lead up to the event, to profound euphoria, unity and pride during the hosting stages of the event, and finally onto critical impact and legacy evaluation in the post-event phase. The sentiment of the coverage was largely balanced across all periods, with the total number of positive references only slightly exceeding that of negative references. These findings serve as critical insight to the work of event organisers, media managers and policy developers alike, whom all hold a vested interest in managing the perceived impressions of mega-sporting events. Practical implications for these stakeholders include: i) establishing greater clarity with respect to the overall signalling benefits of mega-sporting; and ii) informing media management campaigns to reinforce the power of mega-sporting events as a positive reference point - especially in the post-event legacy period. 2016-07-20T12:30:50Z 2016-07-20T12:30:50Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MBusSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20535 eng application/pdf School of Management Studies Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Marketing
Jenkins, David
Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
title_full Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
title_fullStr Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
title_short Exploring the signalling potential of mega-sporting events : an analysis of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
title_sort exploring the signalling potential of mega sporting events an analysis of the 2010 fifa world cup in south africa
topic Marketing
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20535
work_keys_str_mv AT jenkinsdavid exploringthesignallingpotentialofmegasportingeventsananalysisofthe2010fifaworldcupinsouthafrica