Title: The Youth Olympic Games as an opportunity for sports entrepreneurship

Authors: Roald Undlien

Addresses: The Centre for Innovation in Services (CIS), Faculty of Economics and Organizational Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway

Abstract: The aim of this article is to examine the possibilities that social entrepreneurs have for using a major sports event as an arena for their work. A case study using five different project leaders of social entrepreneurial projects were undertaken and qualitative interviews about their experiences and perceptions related to using the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer (LYOG) as an advantage for their cause, were conducted. The LYOG was considered a big entrepreneurial opportunity by the project leaders, especially for networking and improving bonding social capital and with several possibilities for creating social value for different groups, especially due to the Culture and Education Program (CEP). Theoretically, this article seeks to contribute to the field of sports entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and social capital in a sports context.

Keywords: Youth Olympic Games; Norway; social entrepreneurship; social value; social capital; sports entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2017.087438

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2017 Vol.17 No.4/5/6, pp.283 - 307

Received: 01 Oct 2016
Accepted: 04 May 2017

Published online: 15 Oct 2017 *

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