This summer, Dr. Lisa Delpy Neirotti traveled with 17 undergraduate and graduate students to Rio de Janeiro to study and analyze the broader impacts of hosting the World Cup in Brazil. The course, just one of the many special study abroad courses Professor Neirotti teaches, was offered through the Master of Tourism Administration Sports Management Program at George Washington University.
Students from GW, The University of Tennessee, Seattle University, the University of Louisville and Miami University joined Professor Neirotti for eleven days, where they had the chance to attend several games and work on some exciting research projects.
According to Neirotti,“The students are working on two major research projects: one focused on corporate social responsibility around the World Cup, and the other on what the ultimate legacy will be in terms of future use of the stadiums”. To accomplish these two projects, the students interviewed spectators the learn their motives for traveling to the World Cup, their spending habits and overall impressions. Additionally, the students had the chance to meet with FIFA representatives, World Cup sponsors and an array of people working the event.
By the end of the eleven days, students not only received school credit for their hard work, but learned firsthand all that is entailed in organizing and executing such an enormous sporting event with global interest.
Similar courses taught by Dr. Neirotti in the past have included travel to dozens of host cities during the Olympics, as well travel to the previous World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Just recently, professor Neirotti took students to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to study the greater impacts of the games in Russia.