INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

are also involved in the rapid expansion of commercialization of sport
and the IOC and FIFA have significantly expanded their events as
globally marketable products to attract the media and advertisers 8 . The
‘Olympic Movement’ has also attracted a global audience by branding
the Olympic spirit – fostering international goodwill, peace, and
equity through free and fair competition between the athletes of the
world - as the multi-national event. By dividing the history of
Olympic Games into four periods (see Appendix Table 2), Preuss
(2003) acknowledges the changing nature of the involvement of IOC
in commercialisation 9 .
Furthermore, the activities of central government and local
government, especially in relation to the bidding and hosting of megaevents,
led to an extensive increase in commercial investment and
staging an international event embraces a myriad of political and
commercial interests. Preuss notes the huge involvement of interest
groups in hosting the Olympic Games that include IOC members,
state politicians of the host city, local general construction industry,
national sponsors, and TV networks, though they are not sure of the
effect and impact of hosting international sporting events from the
initial increasing demand of investment and production to the
attractiveness of the city or country to business investors or tourists 10 ,
which will divide ‘winners and losers’ (2003: 258-261). The decisions
of bidding and hosting mega-sport events are organized depending on
the geopolitical choice and the national frameworks regulate the
activities of sport commercial industries and services.
2.3 The Organizational Globalization of Sport
One of the significant features of international/global sports is the
establishment, development and expansion of both governmental and
non-governmental regional, continental and international sport
governing bodies, to which states still play a crucial role in terms of
regulation within their legislative or political system. Since the end of
19th century, there has been a significant increase in the number of
sport-related international governing bodies, which can be
theoretically classified as international governmental organizations
(IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs)
(Houlihan, 1994: ch.3-4). Especially from the 1970s, globalization
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