%0 Journal Article
%T Referenda on Hosting the Olympics: What Drives Voter Turnout?
%A Dominik Schreyer
%A Sascha L. Schmidt
%A Tobias Streicher
%J Journal of Sports Economics
%@ 1552-7794
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1527002518794777
%X Public referenda have recently put an end to the ambitions of several cities to host the Olympic Games. The outcome of referenda depends on two major decisions: a content decision whether to support hosting the Olympics and a turnout decision whether or not to cast a vote. Unlike the content decision, the turnout decision has received little attention in sports economics, even though it can distort the outcome of a referendum, lead to a misrepresentation of minorities, and reduce the acceptance of referendum results. We therefore examine the determinants of turnout at Olympic referenda using a population-representative data set from 12 democratic countries. Our findings suggest a nonlinear and robust relationship between individual support and voter turnout
%K bid
%K campaign
%K host
%K mega sport events
%K Olympic games
%K public referenda
%K turnout
%K voting
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1527002518794777