Mobile Mega-Event Expertise in an “East Asian Era”

Abstract

An “East Asian Era” is unfolding in the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and other sports, and nonsports, mega-events. In addition to three editions of the Olympics and Paralympics, several other not as large mega-events have been or are set to be staged in East Asia over the next 5 years. How long the interest in hosting sports mega-events will continue and, if it does, who will be involved in the production of these events are the questions explored in this article. The article consists of five sections. First, we outline the context in which the growth of sports mega-events in the past four decades has occurred. Second, we sketch the theoretical and methodological approaches we use drawing on mobilities research and actor–network theory. Third, studies of knowledge management and policy transfer and mobilities associated with sports mega-events are discussed as a way of understanding the development of mobile mega-event expertise. Fourth, we examine career mobilities, networks, and the extent to which an East Asian “Mega-Event Caravan” could be said to exist or be in formation. Finally, we draw preliminary conclusions and indicate where further research is required.