Major sport events and participation legacy: the case of the 2003 Rugby World Cup

Internationally, the past three decades has seen a significant growth in the staging of major sport events (Cashman, 2006 Cashman, R. 2006. Olympic Legacy: The Bitter-Sweet Awakening, Sydney: Walla Walla Press. [Google Scholar]). These events are staged by host organizers and supported by governments for many varied reasons. One rationale often provided by governments to justify their investment in such events is that they will encourage their population to become more physically active through sport participation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact hosting major sport events has on sport participation for a host nation. To address this research question, a recent major sport event hosted in Australia, namely the 2003 Rugby World Cup, is investigated. The findings from the study suggest that the sport of rugby witnessed an increase in sport registrations following the staging of the event. The increase, however, was substantially greater for the junior rugby category than the senior rugby category.