The impact of mega sporting events on live spectators' images of a host city: a case study of the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix

Using the 2008 Shanghai F1 Grand Prix as a case study, this paper explores the extent, nature and implications of the impacts of sports mega-events on a host city's image from the perspective of the event visitors. It shows that the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix has, in general, a significant positive image impact on live spectators. However, the image impact varies from dimension to dimension, with the possibility of a high percentage of spectators reporting negative change on certain dimensions. The findings show that the evaluation of sports events is related positively to image impact and indicate the importance of improving service quality and spectators' satisfaction in order to achieve the most effective impact on spectators.