This book offers new insight into International Sports Events (ISEs), examining the relationship between sport, tourism and events. It assesses sports events through the lens of both sports participants and spectators, based on three primary themes: impacts, experiences and identities. The book provides an international analysis drawing on emerging empirical research conducted across a diverse range of sport and leisure activities and contrasting locations. Linked to the three underlying themes of the book, a future research agenda for International Sports Events is provided which is centred on four key pillars: Impact, Identity, Internationalisation and Interdisciplinary research.

Richard Shipway, Ph.D., is Associate Dean: International Engagement and Senior Lecturer in Sports Studies in the School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, UK.
Alan Fyall, Ph.D., is Orange County Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, USA.

1. International Sports Events: Toward a Future Research Agenda Part1: Impacts and Legacies of International Sports Events 2. Evaluating Economic Impacts of International Sports Events 3. Exploring the Political and International Relations Dimensions of Hosting Sports Mega Events Through the Lens of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa 4. Mega Sports Events and the Potential to Create a Legacy of Increased Sport Participation in the Host Country: a London 2012 Olympic Promise or Olympic Dream? 5. 'No Manual Available': The Creation of a Youth Olympic Legacy: A Case of Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic 6. The Cultural Legacy of the 2012 Games 7. Sports Events: Do We Need to Set Limits? Part 2: Consumer Behaviour and the Participant Experience at Sports Events 8. Understanding the 'Event Experience' of Active Sports Tourists: Long Distance Endurance Triathletes 9. Sailing Events and the Participant Experience 10. Golf Tourists' Satisfaction: Hard-Core versus Recreational Golf Tourists 11. The Olympic Experience from a Distance: The Case of the Equestrian Events at the 2008 Games 12. Adventure Tourism as a Series of Memorable Events: Women Travellers Walking Experiences in New Zealand Part 3: Sports Events and Identities 13. Olympic Tourists: Seeking a Sense of Belonging and the Construction of Social Identities 14. Encouraging Active Identities and Lifestyles: The Spatialities of Youth Mountain Biking 15. Stadia, Identity and Belonging: Stirring the Sleeping Giants of Sports Tourism 16. Distance Running Events and the 'Third Place' Endnote