Host residents’ role in sporting events: The city image perspective

•We study the relationships between sporting events and host city image perceptions.•We identify the antecedent and outcome variable of city image perceptions.•We explore these variables’ impact on behavioral intention toward the event.•Host city residents are important ambassadors and spectators of the event.•The enhancement in place attachment could be the event’s social impact on host city.The purpose of this study was to identify the antecedent and outcome variables of host city image perceptions, and to analyze how these perceptions impact behavioral intentions from the residents’ viewpoint. To this end, the authors constructed a structural model, distributed questionnaires to residents in Saitama City for the Tour de France Saitama Criterium held in Japan from 2014 to 2016, and collected 636 usable responses. The results verified that the fit between host city and sporting event is a useful antecedent variable of city image. Furthermore, place attachment to host city was identified as an outcome variable. Development of these two variables could benefit behavioral intentions, suggesting that residents play an important role in sporting event development. In addition, the authors found that hosting a sporting event leads to place attachment among residents through fit between host city and sporting event and city image perceptions. Thus, hosting a sporting event has two potential impacts—one each on the event organizer and the host city—from the residents’ viewpoint. It benefits the organizers by developing the residents’ behavioral intentions and has a social impact on the host city through an enhancement in their place attachment.