Towards a conceptual definition of intangible Olympic legacy

PurposeIntangible legacy encapsulates the essence of Olympism and its manifestation, the Olympic Games. Despite significant interest in the capacity of the Olympics to produce notable changes in society, conceptual difficulties in defining and measuring intangible legacy persist. The study develops a conceptual definition of intangible Olympic legacy.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a four-step concept definition approach. It examines and integrates three strands of literature including intangibles, social interactions and public value, which is combined with insights from a longitudinal empirical investigation of intangible Olympic legacy for National Sport Organisations (NSO).FindingsThe proposed concept of intangible legacy defines it an emerging combination of attributes, interactions, processes and technology, with the goal of creating public value which is the ultimate goal of the Olympic Games. Since intangible legacy is qualitative rather than quantitative, a reconsideration of the current research paradigm is also proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThe study develops a new analytical device for the investigation of intangible legacies for specific publics such as NSO.Practical implicationsThe study carries practical implications for Olympic and events/festival promoters as it allows defining and operationalising the key attributes of the concept.Originality/valueThis is the first study to conceptualise intangible legacy of mega events.