Examining the Importance of Legacy Outcomes of Major Sport Events for Host City Residents’ Quality of Life

This study examined the importance of legacy outcomes for residents’ quality of life (QoL) across three international sport events in Taiwan. A survey of the three events was conducted among the host city residents (n = 605). Questionnaires measured eight legacy outcome factors for each of the three events. One-sample t-tests and one-way MANOVA tested the importance of these outcomes for residents’ QoL and the differences between various legacy categories across events. Results revealed that tangible legacies were the most important category of legacies affecting QoL. Specifically, infrastructure, environment, and culture were the most important in all three events. Legacies held different weight for residents’ QoL according to the event type; sport development and emotional legacies were expected to influence the QoL resulting from hosting the future sport event in 2017. The evaluation of infrastructural and environmental legacies changed in terms of when the event took place (past or future). Future events elicited positive evaluations for the residents’ QoL across all legacy categories. Implications relate to variability of event type legacies and their importance for residents’ QoL.