Principles to Practice: Indicators for measuring event governance performance

Governments are increasingly involved in public–private partnerships to attract, support, and/or stage events. This involvement often leads to governments becoming embroiled in highly politicized battles that focus on issues including community benefit, mitigation of impacts, transparency in decision making, and lack of consultation before, during, and after the event. To date, minimal attention has been paid to the public–private governance arrangements underpinning events. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a set of indicators that can be operationalized to improve event governance. The article proposes an indicators framework for event governance designed to reflect the event policy-making process. It contributes to the literature by facilitating greater understanding of the significance and influence of event governance indicators. Future application of the framework in research and practice will provide governments with a new management tool, which will enhance democratic decision making and facilitate competitive advantage in a globalized marketplace.