Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of mega sports events on recreational sports participation by examining trends in news big data.
Method: This study collected and analyzed news articles related to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, and recreational sports using Big Kinds and NetMiner. Topic modeling was conducted to identify key issues associated with mega sports events, The study compared news articles related to recreational sports before and after these mega sports events to analyze trends in sports participation.
Results: At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, archery and fencing gained attention due to their medal achievements, while volleyball highlighted the performance of Kim Yeon-koung, and baseball and soccer focused on team-related issues. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, soccer, baseball, fencing, archery, swimming, and athletics were major issues due to their medal achievements and match content. Before and after the Tokyo Olympics, news articles on archery and fencing more than doubled, and articles on volleyball and swimming also increased slightly. Conversely, articles on baseball decreased. Before and after the Hangzhou Asian Games, news articles on soccer and baseball more than doubled, and articles on fencing and archery also increased significantly. However, articles on badminton decreased.
Conclusion: Archery, fencing, swimming, baseball, and soccer consistently achieved high rankings in topic coverage during both the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, whereas sports like handball, wrestling, climbing, and weightlifting consistently ranked lower. Archery and fencing saw an increase in news articles related to recreational sports after both the Tokyo Olympics and the Hangzhou Asian Games. Soccer and baseball saw a reduction in articles after the Tokyo Olympics but an increase following the Hangzhou Asian Games. Badminton experienced a marked decline in articles after both events, whereas basketball showed a substantial increase in articles after the Tokyo Olympics. Golf saw a notable decrease in articles after the Hangzhou Asian Games.