Governance of major sporting events: an analysis of the public tender processes for the ‘Alicante Starting Port of The Ocean Race’ in the 2017 and 2023 editions

Abstract

This study analyses the public tender process conducted by the regional government for the management of the ‘Alicante, Starting Port of The Ocean Race’ event in its 2017 and 2023 editions. The objective is to identify the main factors that influenced the awarding of the contract to a specific company. A documentary and comparative analysis was performed using data obtained from the Spanish state contracting platform. The findings reveal that most of the budget was allocated to infrastructure and logistics. Additionally, both editions had similar overall budgets, and the procurement process resulted in savings of more than 10% of the initial estimated budget.