Exploring Partnerships in Sport Event Delivery

In order to provide high-quality sport events and cultivate economic, social, and environmental benefits in the local community, regional sport commissions in the US form partnerships with organizations across sectors. Building on Parent and Harvey's partnership framework, this study seeks to reveal the components and processes of the collaboration between sport commissions and their partners in the delivery of sport events and subsequent outcomes. Using purposive and convenient sampling, data were collected from 12 in-depth interviews with leaders in sport commissions and partnering organizations based on their accessibility and familiarity with the research topic. The study identifies five main areas and multiple subcomponents of event-based partnerships, providing empirical evidence for Parent and Harvey's partnership model. The findings advance this model by specifying the outcomes, challenges, and positive conditions for event-based partnerships and showing interactions between partnership components. More importantly, the findings contribute to a greater understanding of the partnership complexities and dynamics in the sport event-specific context and provide practical insights for sport commissions and other sport event organizers to strategically manage and maintain sport event-based partnerships.