CAN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS OPTIMIZE THE IMPACT OF MEGA-SPORT EVENTS? EVIDENCE FROM THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP AND 2016 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES IN BRAZIL

Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) have emerged as a viable method for stimulating traditional measures of economic development. In parallel, the effect of mega-sport events (MSEs) on economic development has been documented as perfunctory at best, despite the best efforts of municipalities and sport governing bodies. A natural extension of these lines of work asks whether EEs can play a role in enhancing the impact of MSEs within a host region. Therefore, this study sought to assess how a nation's EEs affected innovation outcomes during the hosting of two back-to-back MSEs. Using the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic Games as the context, a sample of 2,951 venture capital transactions made to startups in South America were analyzed using a generalized policy analysis framework. The findings suggest that a well-established EE may have helped enhance venture capital availability during the time of the MSEs, but that a less robust EE did not generate any positive effects. These findings bolster the economic work documenting that adequate resources and infrastructure are prerequisites for host regions to realize benefits from MSEs, not an outcome to leverage MSEs toward.