Large-Scale Events in Pre-Existing Venues: A Case Study of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Despite the growing trend for hosting sports-events in existing venues, there is little academic research into the impacts of this shift. Using the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (B2022) as a case study, this article addresses this gap by analysing the effects of hosting large-scale events in such venues. Document analysis and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders provided insights into the planning and execution of B2022 and Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) was used to examine how access to resources affected the behaviour of stakeholders. Despite relying on existing venues, organisers remained the most powerful stakeholders, providing access to the funding used by the venues for long-term infrastructural developments. Knowledge, an important intangible resource, was not always passed on successfully. Communication difficulties between the organising committee and venue staff led to a missed opportunity of formal knowledge transfer, while some displacement within the local community was evident.