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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

Events and Tourism Review                                     
 
December 2025                                                                                                                                          Volume 8 No. 1      

 

Residents’ Perceptions towards the Social Impacts of                                           

the Indianapolis 500 Miles Race: A Hallmark Event 

 

 
Jumana Baqaain 
 

Soonhwan Lee 
 
Suosheng Wang 
 

Indiana University, Indianapolis 

Correspondence: lee291@iu.edu (S. Lee) 

 

 
 

 

 

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Recommended Citation 

Baqaain, J. , Lee, S., & Wang, S. (2025). Residents’ Perceptions towards the Social Impacts of                                           

the Indianapolis 500 Miles Race: A Hallmark Event. Events and Tourism Review, 8(1), 1-14.  
 

 

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Baqaain, J., Lee, S. & Wang, S. (2025) / Events and Tourism Review, 8(1), 1-14. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Abstract 

 

The aim of the study was to identify the major social benefits and costs associated with hosting the 

Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana. How residents’ perceptions toward this sport event are 

formed, as well as how the perceived social impacts affected their support towards the future 

hosting of this event using the social exchange theory as a theoretical framework. The paper 

employed qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 residents of Indianapolis, 

Indiana. The result of the qualitative study revealed that the sense of community, enhancing city 

image and the sense of pride are among the positive social impacts as perceived by the residents. 

 

Keywords: Social Impacts; Indy 500; Resident Perceptions; Social Exchange Theory 
 

 

 

Introduction 

Hallmark events can give the host city greater prominence in the tourism marketplace while 

also being a significant tool for urban renewal and social cohesion (Van der Steen & Richard, 2021). 

Hallmark events, also called mega events or special events, are significant fairs, festivals, 

exhibitions, cultural events, and sporting events held either on a regular or a one-off basis and play a 

key role in international, national, and regional tourism marketing strategies (Van der Steen & 

Richards, 2021).  

The success of such events largely relies on the support of the local community, as the event 

destination typically attracts the primary advantages and the most considerable proportion of the 

expenses. Residents are an important stakeholder group, and their involvement in the event could 

have implications for providing welcoming visitor experiences and increasing the longevity of 

positive impacts (Gursoy & Kendall, 2006). Therefore, obtaining the support of residents is vital to 

developing and sustaining a successful hallmark event (Duan et al., 2020).    

Nevertheless, until now, there has been little investigation into the factors that influence 

residents' support for hallmark events (Van der Steen & Richards, 2021). Scholars argued that 

residents' perceptions or attitudes towards small-scale annual sporting events have not been well 

discussed in the literature (Jeong, 2019; Yao &Schwarz, 2018) and should be examined further in 

the event tourism literature even though small and medium-scale sports events cannot be compared 

in terms of size and scale, with mega sports events, they are essential to examine because these 

events are held periodically and continuously, which are correlated more closely to the local 

community residents' life and sometimes are more attractive to residents and tourists (Duan et al., 

2020).  Furthermore, a significant focus of previous studies has centered on the perceptions or 

attitudes of residents toward mega-sport events such as the Olympic Games (Prayag et al., 2013; 

Waitt, 2003; Zhou &Ap, 2009) and the FIFA World Cup (Kaplanidou et al., 2013; Ohmann et al., 

2006). 

In addition, much previous research has mainly focused on a sports event's economic, 

commercial, and promotional benefits impacts (Hirtz & Ross, 2010), assuming that the economic 

benefits of special events are one of the most important reasons for organizing a special event in the 

first place (Gursoy et al.,2004). However, understanding residents' perceptions and opinions towards 

the social impacts of major events or how perceptions can impact the support of the events still 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

needs to be improved. As suggested by Ohmann et al. (2006), research into the social impacts of 

sports tourism events is a recent phenomenon compared to a long history of economic impact 

assessment and there is a need that there is a need for social impact studies at a variety of events and 

locations to identify patterns and trends so that these impacts can be managed before, during, and 

after the event (Balduck et al., 2011). 

No study has specifically examined the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana, 

particularly in terms of its social impacts. Therefore, there is a clear need to investigate the social 

effects of this annual hallmark event. This study aims to explore local residents’ perceptions of the 

event’s social impacts on the community, as well as how these perceived impacts influence their 

support for the event. Research on the social impacts of the Indianapolis 500 is needed from both 

theoretical and practical perspectives. The famous Indianapolis 500-mile race, held annually at the 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA, represents the world's most desirable open-wheel race 

victories. The significance of the Indianapolis 500 is unquestioned within the motor racing industry 

due to the long history and tradition of the race (O'kane, 2011). The Indianapolis 500 is among the 

oldest and richest motorsport events, with the largest attendance and T.V./radio audiences of any 

single-day sporting event worldwide.  

The race holds a vital place in American culture and has become an annual pilgrimage for 

many American families. The iconic race is staged annually on Memorial Day weekend in late May 

at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, USA. There are numerous references to the armed 

forces before the event to stir the crowd before the race, such as 'America the Beautiful', another 

pre-race musical tradition is the singing of 'Back Home Again in Indiana'. These pre-race 

ceremonies and traditions take some time and help build the atmosphere among the crowd and it 

plays a part in establishing race as the cultural reservoir it has now become within the American 

psyche (O'Krane, 2011).  

Literature Review  

           In the literature review related to resident perceptions for events, the paper considered 

studies of major sports events and their impacts and the application of social exchange theory 

to explain resident support. 

        The earliest reference to hallmark events in the research literature was by Ritchie (1984), the 

widely accepted definition proposed by Ritchie (1984) describes hallmark events as: “Major one-

time or recurring events of limited duration, developed primarily to enhance the awareness, appeal, 

and profitability of a tourism destination in the short and/or long term. Such events rely for their 

success on uniqueness, status, or timely significance to create interest and attract attention” (1984, p. 

2). Getz et al. (2012) argued that hallmark events refer to the function of events in achieving goals 

that benefit the host community, namely, attracting tourists, creating, and enhancing a positive image 

co-branded with the destination/ community, and delivering multiple benefits to residents. A 

recurring sports event, especially a hallmark event, may generate positive intangible social impacts, 

such as increasing community identity, attachment, and civic pride (Getz et al., 2012). 

Hallmark events occupy an essential place in any destination's portfolio of events and take 

on additional meanings as permanent institutions within communities, in addition, these recurring 

events can offer a venue for entertainment, socialization, and community cohesion (Ouyang et al., 

2019). They can enhance the visibility of the host city within the tourism marketplace (Van der 

Steen & Richards, 2021). Moreover, the smaller-scale sports event hosted regularly in one 

community ensures a consistent flow of visitors and expenditures (Ouyang et al., 2019). In 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

discussing this further (Todd et al., 2017), argued that a critical feature of hallmark events is their 

close association with their host. Hosting hallmark events can have a significant influence on the 

community that is hosting them, and the community must show their support. Their support is 

critical not only for the success of the event but also for the sustainability of these events (Cheng& 

Jarvis, 2010). Residents are the most influenced socially by the events in their region, and the host 

community is a prime beneficiary as they can enjoy the games, new sports facilities, and upgraded 

services. At the same time, they are the ones who need to deal with the inconveniences such as 

disruptions in their daily lives and traffic jams. Thus, residents' support of the event comes partially 

but instead based on their evaluation of benefits and costs (Lee et al., 2022). For this reason, these 

impacts significantly affect residents and are necessary antecedents to gain their support (Cheng & 

Jarvis, 2010). Therefore, perception is a crucial aspect of an event; perception is vital to knowing if 

the event is successful or not (Gursoy et al., 2004). Perception is what a person thinks and believes, 

based on many different aspects; all conceptual knowledge, however, is based on awareness (Efron, 

1969). There is a small but growing body of literature examining the impacts of special events on 

the host community as perceived by residents (Fredline et al., 2013). The most noticeable research 

theme in the last decade is how residents perceive the impact of events on the community itself 

(Chen, 2011). This theme emerged in the literature because organizers should aim to minimize the 

adverse effects, such as disrupting daily routines, while maximizing the positive outcomes. 

Ritchie (1984) identified six significant types of impact hallmark events: economic, 

tourism/commercial, physical, social, cultural, psychological, and political. Nevertheless, little 

academic attention has been paid to the social, psychological, and political dimensions, with 

previous studies emphasizing the economic, commercial, and promotional benefits (Van der 

Steen & Richards, 2021). Accordingly, scholars have started to examine the social, cultural, and 

environmental impacts of such events, and there is growing literature on the perceptual and social 

impact associated with sporting events. Several empirical studies explored local community 

opinions and perceptions towards these impacts (Ohmann et al., 2006; Balduck et al., 2011; Liu, 

2016). Furthermore, many researchers have found that noneconomic impacts are more related to 

residents' perceptions than economic impacts (Yao& Schwarz, 2018). Kim et al. (2006) revealed 

that residents perceived the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea to generate more societal and 

cultural benefits than economic ones. 

In the sports event context, the social impacts refer to the consequences of the influx of 

tourists to the host city because of hosting the sports event, the development of equipment and 

infrastructure for tourists, and the impacts on image and international reputation, which alters the 

way residents live, work, play (Gaudette et al., 2017). Major sports events have the potential to 

create a few positive and negative impacts; hosting sports events in a city provides entertainment 

opportunities, in addition to enhancing the destination image and developing facilities and 

infrastructure for the community (Cheng &Jarvis, 2010). On the other hand, possible problems are 

overcrowding, traffic congestion, noise, less accessibility to facilities, crime, and demonstration 

effect (Cheng & Jarvis, 2010). In Singapore, during the F1 Grand Prix, the most critical problem is 

that the circuit is in the city and therefore leads to the closure of roads for several weeks, which 

negatively impacts the quality of life of residents (Cheng & Jarvis, 2010), while Kim and Petrick 

(2005) claimed that image enhancement and consolidation were the positive outcomes of hosting the 

FIFA World cup in Seoul, South Korea, while traffic problems and congestion were perceived as the 

most negative impacts of hosting the World Cup. Also, Ohmann et al., (2006) measured the 

perceived social impacts of the 2006 Football World Cup on the Munich residents; A sense of 

community and sharing the event experience were perceived as positive social impacts in addition to 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

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urban regeneration .At the same time, most residents of Ghent believed that the critical benefits 

concerning the arrival of the Tour de France in 2007 were cultural and image benefits (Balduck, et 

al., 2011). 

The Social Exchange Theory 

To understand residents' attitudes toward sports events, it is necessary to understand how 

residents' attitudes towards sports events are formed. The social exchange theory (SET) is widely 

used to analyze how social, economic, cultural, and environmental variables affect residents' support 

for events (Duan et al., 2020; Gursoy& Kendall, 2006). According to the social exchange theory 

(SET), individuals' behaviors are subject to exchange activities that can bring rewards and 

compensation. The attitude of residents to support an event mainly depends on the relationships 

between their perceptions of social, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits and costs to the 

community brought by the sports event. In other words, whether the residents decide to support a 

sports event will depend on the outcome of the sports event evaluation (Duam et al., 2020).  

The higher the benefits obtained from the exchange, the greater the likelihood of positive 

attitudes toward the event and the stronger the support for the event. Conversely, negative 

perceptions will arise when the outcome of the exchange results in higher costs (Kim & Walker, 

2012).   

Gursoy and Kendall (2006) used the social exchange theory to measure residents' 

support for the Olympic Games, and Lee and Krohn (2013) applied it to study resident support 

for the Super Bowl and the results showed that after hosting the event, positive evaluations of the 

event’s social impacts are likely to lead to supportive attitudes toward future events .Similar 

research has been conducted on the impacts of motor car races; Cheng and Jarvis (2010) examined 

mainly the positive and negative social-cultural impacts of the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore using the 

social exchange theory. The widespread conclusion is that from a social exchange perspective, the 

attitude of residents to support an event mainly depends on the relationships between their 

perceptions of the benefits and costs to the community brought by the sports event. The assessment 

of the costs and benefits of these exchanges and their overall perception will then lead to an internal 

cost-benefit analysis of the analyzed phenomenon (Ap, 1992). Therefore, this study proposed a 

positive relationship between the perceived benefits and the support for hosting the hallmark 

event.  

Perceived Benefits 

A judgment by the residents of the comparison between the benefits and the costs. The 

benefit components of value include economic, social, and environmental attributes (Li et al., 2018). 

Lee and Krohn (2013) stated that psychological impacts include increased awareness and visibility 

for the host community, enhanced image, and emotional and psychological benefits .Several 

researchers suggested that perhaps one of the most important perceived benefits of hosting mega-

events, for example, the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary and the 1996 Summer Olympics in 

Atlanta, are the positive social impacts, as community pride and international recognition (Gursoy & 

Kendal, 2006). 

In addition, Van der Steen and Richards (2021) revealed that resident support for the 2018 

European Capital of Culture in Valletta, Malta, was influenced by levels of perceived benefits 

and perceived costs, which aligns with social exchange theory.  

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Perceived Costs 

It is defined as something the residents give up acquiring or consuming a product; as an 

economic or social effect, high perceived costs may stimulate negative attitudes on the part of 

residents of the host city. For example, hosting sporting events will likely create negative 

externalities, including negative economic impacts and noneconomic cost problems such as traffic 

congestion, crowding, and increasing crime rates (Lee & Krohn, 2013). Gursoy and Kendall 

(2006) analyzed negative economic, cultural, and social impacts, while Deccio and Baloglu 

(2002) measured perceived costs regarding traffic congestion, crime rate, and natural 

environment. Both studies failed to identify a significant relationship between perceived costs 

and resident support. Gursoy and Kendall (2006) argued that if people give more importance to 

benefits, such as employment, they might overlook the costs associated with hosting the event.  

Methods 

Data Collection  

 Data was collected through a semi-structured interview, 12 of the city residents were 

interviewed during July and August (2022). All interviewees were residents of Indianapolis, where 

the annual event is held. The semi-structured interviews allowed for a flexible and open-ended data 

collection approach while ensuring all participants were asked the same core questions (Haddad et 

al., 2019) while encouraging the interviewees to provide details based on their experience to gain 

insight into their attitudes and perceptions. 

 Participants were English-speaking locals who were willing to participate in this interview 

process. The process of the interview started with the preparation of the "interview guide" that 

included the main themes, including the residents' personal experiences as attendees at the event, the 

positive and negative social impacts of the event, residents' perception of the impacts and the factor 

influencing residents' support. Furthermore, it was further reviewed by the author's academic 

advisor. Interviews were held via Zoom meetings as a preferable platform during the COVID-19 

pandemic. Zoom is a communications platform that allows users to connect with video, audio, 

phone, and chat. “support.zoom.us”. Interviews lasted between forty and ninety minutes, mostly 

lasting around one hour. Each interview session started with an introduction to restate the purpose of 

the study and ask for the participants` consent to record the interview. The open-ended questions 

were based on a study by Ap and Crompton (1998). They developed a 35-item tourism impact scale 

derived from a pool of 147 impact items drawn from personal interviews and literature. Interviews 

were audio-recorded with the interviewees` consent to minimize bias.  

Participants 

Table 1 presents the profile of the interviewees included in the sample. In this case, the 

sample consisted of 12 residents living around different areas in the city of Indianapolis, and some 

of them were residents of Speedway town, where the event is held annually—one of the 

interviewees living a few blocks away from the IMS racetrack. The minimum length of residency 

for residents of the Speedway was three years. The other residents live in different areas in 

Indianapolis, like Avon and downtown. Individuals needed to be representative of both male and 

female genders so that the data would not isolate views that could be different based on gender 

influence. However, most participants were male, a sample composition characteristic of a diverse 

educational background and dissimilar occupations. The age of participants was between 23 -

68 years. All the interviewees confirmed that they attended the Indy 500 at least once and are fully 

aware of their personal experiences at the event, except for one participant, who has lived in the 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Speedway for the past three years. He attended the event when he was a toddler and expressed his 

willingness to go to the event in the future if he has the availability and the time to go.  

 

Table 1. Interviewees’ Profiles 

 

No Age  Gender Profession   Educational background  

1 60s  Female Principal  Master’s degree 

2 60s Male Clergy  Master’s degree 

3 20s Male Counselor intern  Master’s degree 

4 20s Male Operation staff Graduate student 

5 40s Male Creative director College  

6 20s Male Account manager Graduate student 

7 20s Male Analyst  Master’s degree 

8 20s Male Park management Bachelor’s degree 

9 20s Female Insurance agent Bachelor’s degree 

10 50s Female Principal  Master’s Degree 

11. 50s Male Lawyer  Doctorate Student  

12 20s Male Researcher Doctorate Student 

 

Data Analysis 

To analyze the collected data, the author completed an initial verbatim transcription of the 

interviews. After each interview, the author transcribed each interviewee through "Speechy," then 

conducted an individual review, and made necessary revisions to the transcription of each interview. 

Following this, inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze transcribed data, and identify 

common primary themes, and patterns among all interviews. The process of data analysis included 

five stages: 1. transcribing the data; 2. reading through the transcripts to become familiar with the 

data ;3. coding each interview to discover the main themes; this stage involved viewing each 

transcript as a whole and interpreting each one by relating parts of the text to its overall meaning. 4. 

Grouping the codes to form themes involved relating the interview transcripts to one another to 

identify common global themes until theoretical saturation was evident. 5. Describing and 

interpreting meanings: This was achieved by examining the themes developed from the interviews 

to determine the point at which no new themes emerged from the data (Todd et al., 2017; Haddad et 

al., 2019). Using this process, five themes were identified and are presented as findings. Overall, the 

following thematic categories were identified: (a) residents' attendance of the event, (b) residents' 

personal experience as attendees, (c) the pros and cons associated with the event, (d) residents' 

perceptions of the impacts of the Indy 500. 

 

 

 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Findings and Discussion  

The impacts identified by the respondents are predominantly framed within the social and 

socio-economic perspectives described below. 

Sense of Community 

The sense of community is one of the most prominent themes that emerged; the residents 

perceived that the event fostered a sense of community and social cohesion among residents. In our 

sample, several sub-themes are related to the concept, such as togetherness, cohesion, belonging, 

camaraderie, solidarity, unity, and connection. Participants explained that the Indianapolis 500, 

with its shared experiences and traditions, not only brings people together but also strengthens 

community bonds, fostering a sense of solidarity and togetherness. For example, informant # 5 

said: “every time they sing back home again in Indiana it's one of these things where it's one of the 

most popular songs in Indiana every time that song just it kind of just gives you a sense of home 

feeling like you're at home you have over 200,000 fans enjoy doing the same thing”. 

The two critical elements for creating a sense of community are celebration and social 

camaraderie; the Indianapolis 500 event is an occasion for celebration and joy and allows 

individuals to share in the celebration and the tradition together. A respondent spotted: “I was really 

excited I like the camaraderie of big social events; excited when they do the traditional beginning 

things like the opening ceremony the parade and the fly over the national anthem and the singing 

I'm back home and get in Indiana, I really like the cultural kind of community parts of all that I like 

all the traditions involved in.”(Informant # 7). 

Informant #6 clarified: “Socially I think it brings a lot of good community events that’s right 

just things that can I bring people together in safe space, it brings people that idea of bringing 

people together I don't know how you would say that maybe like how to make that a feeling 

community yeah, sense of community.”  

In addition, some of the residents of the town of Speedway, where the event takes place 

every year, decorated their houses and backyards to welcome race fans, volunteered to pass out 

water along the way to the racetrack, and provide first aid when needed. These actions can 

strengthen social bonds and bring people together. Informant # 12 commented: “I was biking back to 

my place some people in the front yard and their porches offer me some water because they saw that 

I was tired from the bike trying to get back I thought that was those really interesting to see that the 

social dynamic how people want to help each other during the day.” 

Another interviewee added: “so I like you know the feeling that you get in May that 

everybody is talking about this feeling in Indiana its super unique people are decorating their yard 

and you look up their Indianapolis 500 flag out it's almost like it's a little holiday that we get to 

celebrate inside its special in this regards”. (Informant # 9). 

The finding of the study echoes the findings reported by Ohmann et al. (2006) that one of the 

perceived social impacts of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Munich was that the event fortified the 

sense of community and improved relationships between people. Buelens et al. (2011) emphasized 

that sports events are more than entertainment; they are transformative social events that allow for 

social leverage. It feels like a new era of inspiration has been ignited in the communal atmosphere, 

an inspiration that all can share. 

Civic Pride 

Most respondents expressed that hosting the event elevated their pride and self-esteem. Their 

pride was profound, with sub-themes like joy, achievement, ability, satisfaction, esteem, 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

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and identity. The informants' pride in their city hosting the Indianapolis 500 every year was 

particularly noteworthy, highlighting the unique and exclusive nature of this event. This uniqueness 

significantly fosters residents' pride in their city and community. The words of informant # 11 

vividly capture this emotion. “ I don' feel this could replicate what has become the Indianapolis 500 

about anywhere else on, kind of feeling  this is a one day  event a year and it doesn't happen 

anywhere also a feeling of pride like pride in the city in the state that we do something so special 

yeah of just like satisfaction and pride in your community, in the city that like your city can put on a 

super mega event in not a big Town this is cool.” 

One resident of the town of speedway expressed her feeling of pride and put it “it makes all 

of us proud we're proud to live in this town and we're proud to share our town for a whole month 

with complete and absolute strangers; just a sense of pride you know our little town is very prideful 

in our schools and our racetrack and the historical part of Speedway”. (Informant # 10). 

Informant # 8 added: “It’s just it's a pride we're very proud just have this race here every 

year and have the fans come back year after year and to share it with people”. 

Other interviewees expressed that they are hugely proud of their city being able to organize 

this sports event successfully every year. One male said: "I think it proved to the world that we could 

put on an event of this magnitude year after year and make it look semi-effortless. I think it is the 

cornerstone that all of you need in Indianapolis and the spirit the Community; with all the things we 

host now, this is just for the year's crown jewel to host something so historic and meaningful you can 

ask anybody across the globe. They would know what the Indy 500 is; I am proud to have it here in 

our city and then out of the State." (Informant # 5). 

Another participant added:” it's been going on for so long I think that's one of the main 

things the Indianapolis 500 thing over 100 years to be able to host the same large sporting event in 

the world in the same place, it kind of built up community, here there's a big sense of pride in our 

city and everything we can do here.” (Informant # 1). 

These findings align with the research of Fredline and Faulkner (2000), who measured the 

pride in the city following the V8 race in Canberra. A significant 55% of the community expressed 

their support, affirming that the event had indeed instilled a sense of pride. Furthermore, the 

residents in our study not only perceive the pride in their city as a positive impact gained from 

hosting the event, but they also express a deep admiration for their city's ability to organize such a 

mega event. This attitude, like the findings of Cheng& Jarvis (2010), underscores the residents' 

pride in the collective ability of their community to manage an international event like the 2008 

Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. 

Entertainment  

This research highlights that the respondents not only acknowledged the entertainment 

opportunities but also the opportunities for personal connections and networking that residents gain 

from hosting the event as a significant social benefit. The results indicate that entertainment is 

associated with concepts such as fun, excitement, parade, enjoyment, atmosphere, and 

celebrations.  Additionally, the event enhances opportunities for family reunions, enjoyable 

gatherings with friends and extended family, and social networking. It acts as a incentive for people 

to form personal connections and enhances entertainment opportunities for the locals of 

Indianapolis. The Indianapolis 500 is a platform for the local community to participate in exciting 

events, meet new people, and interact with tourists. Almost all the respondents emphasized the 

entertainment aspect of the event as a perceived social impact derived from the event. For example, 

informant # 3 described the event: “like if I meet someone that lives in California for example, and 

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Baqaain, J., Lee, S. & Wang, S. (2025) / Events and Tourism Review, 8(1), 1-14. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

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we exchange phone numbers they we both attended the event we're talking about throughout the 

year”. 

“Another female participant commented: “it's a nice scene the overall and the atmosphere 

was really enjoyable, you feel you feel that that energy, and yeah a social interaction what makes 

really cool, the social interaction the opportunities to do more things to meet new people to have 

something to do.” (Informant # 1). 

One more code was: “I would say leading up to it it's a bit of a party atmosphere e: on a 

personal note, it's just a fun day for me gives me a chance to see my friends it's just exciting”. 

(Informant # 10). 

Another male said: “excited, had a lot of fun much wanted to share it with lots of people I 

invited lots of friends and family to come in and lots of people to see it’s just a fun event too it’s.” 

(Informant # 3).  

The finding of the study regarding the entertainment aspect as a social benefit derived from 

hosting the event fulfilled with the finding of the study by Chen (2011) stated that from a 

sociological perspective, having sports events in town can provide a good diversion and recreational 

options to the hosting city’s residents.  

Enhance the Image of the City and City Brand 

It is defined as shared perceptions or views of a city, and a city brand is defined as the name 

or symbol that identifies a particular city and distinguishes it from other cities (Olberding, 

2014). These concepts are key aspects of the findings and are closely linked to the following sub-

themes: reputation, prominence, recognition, prestige, and visibility. Most respondents defined the 

mass exposure that Indianapolis received throughout hosting the event as a social benefit; most 

participants explained that the event positively impacted the image of Indianapolis "as the Racing 

Capital of the World." It enhances the city's brand and makes the event's name associated with and 

tied with the host city's name.  Interviewee # 2 commented: “visibility, name recognition, 

Indianapolis out in the public eye. is the one of the biggest ones because if you go any place in the 

world and you were something Indianapolis people will say the Indy 500, it helped the city a lot as 

well and it's giving it more character in prominence”. 

In addition to another code: “would really put it on the maps, usually if you're talking to 

someone like from out of town or just you know not from Indy at all, and everyone knows about the 

Indy 500”. (Informant # 4).  

The most common response was that the event lifted the city's profile and made the town of 

Speedway a more exciting place to visit. Interviewee # 12 added: “when you're talking about it to 

friends and families it’s the biggest one-day event in the world that creates a cool image of the city is 

that cool a lot of people around the world know about it is important to the city is to promote the 

idea of a world-class city changes that idea of the boring city”. 

One code in this theme was:  “it's also a tourism factor in Indianapolis was known as a nap 

town  where it's lazy boring there's not a lot to do but all the sporting events allowed us to bring in 

people from outside of Indianapolis to experience our city to see the culture that we have here so if 

it's constantly bringing people in new set of eyes to the city and exposing them to what we have here 

in Indianapolis”. (Informant # 6).  

“The recognition I think people again people know Indianapolis sometimes they only know 

Indianapolis because of the 500- if the Indy 500 wasn’t here I'd be a lot less people who even knew 

Indianapolis existed I think more people knowing about the city is good for those who live in the 

city.” (Informant # 9).  

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Baqaain, J., Lee, S. & Wang, S. (2025) / Events and Tourism Review, 8(1), 1-14. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

This finding is aligned with the findings by Kim and Petrick (2005), who claimed that image 

enhancement and consolidation were the positive outcomes of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 

Seoul.  

Importantly, our study's findings on the perceived social impacts are in line with several 

prior research on hallmark events. For instance, Ouyang et al. (2019) found that recurring events can 

serve as a platform for entertainment, socialization, and community cohesion. Similarly, Van der 

Steen & Richards (2021) emphasized that hallmark events can significantly boost the visibility of 

the host city within the tourism marketplace. Moreover, a recurring sports event, particularly a 

hallmark event, can generate positive intangible social impacts, such as fostering community 

identity, attachment, and civic pride (Getz et al., 2012). 

Most interviewees acknowledged that hosting the event in the city attracts visitors and 

investments. For example, during the Indianapolis 500, the influx of visitors and their spending 

enhanced the local businesses located along the racetrack.  Participant # 9 said:” it gives our 

businesses a chance to boom and making a decent amount of money especially on the on main street 

where there's a lot of restaurants and bars, I mean those are packed to the brim.” 

Another example was: “I guess we say about it it's huge for the economy Indianapolis 

speedway economy you know all the visitors, just boosted the economy a ton, I don't know how 

much money bringing but I know it’s a lot.” (Informant # 7). 

Such an impact appears to concur with previous research findings, which identify increased 

numbers of visitors as one of the key benefits to hosting a city; events can also stimulate the growth 

of existing businesses and the establishment of new ones, like restaurants, bars, hotels, and 

merchandise stores (Krohn & Lee, 2013). 

              Results reveal the dominance of positive perceptions towards Indianapolis 500. In this 

regard, the possibility of social benefits from the event was recognized as a strong driver of positive 

perceptions among residents. Nonetheless, informers raised concerns that reflected issues related to 

the inconveniences that the local community experienced from hosting the event. These included the 

issues of parking problems, overcrowding during the event, alcoholism, and the traffic patterns that 

were disturbed during the long weekend of the race. For example, as stated by interviewee # 3: “if 

somebody's not attending the race then trying to navigate the traffic would definitely be an 

inconvenience if you're trying to work on that day and need to leave your home and get somewhere 

it would be an inconvenience.” 

          Again, even though respondents mentioned that the race might disrupt the lives of residents 

and create inconveniences, such as potential traffic problems, they did not classify them as being 

negative impacts of the event. Many participants put comments that reflect their positive 

perceptions, such as: “where it's like look this the craziest thing that happened. I think that most of 

the people, and local people they do care more about the Positive things”. (Informant # 5). 

“I don't think there's too many negative associations that I'm getting with it if somebody if I 

mention the Indy 500 the is nothing negative associated with it if they said something like oh all the 

drinking there or something like that yeah for you it's mostly it’s fine yeah”. (Informant # 9). 

“No nothing negatively some of the people obviously are it gets very loud and very get very 

loud and some people are drunk but other than that no major issues Yeah. It does change like the 

traffic patterns but overall, I see it as a positive thing.” (Informant # 2). 

Consequently, the residents of Indianapolis are influenced by the event's perceived benefits 

in terms of social aspects. This finding aligns with the SET that suggests that people support the 

event if the benefits are high (Ap,1992). According to the social exchange theory, the residents 

evaluated the benefits of the exchange and the costs of the social interaction. Participants agree that 

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Baqaain, J., Lee, S. & Wang, S. (2025) / Events and Tourism Review, 8(1), 1-14. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

the event is more beneficial to the community, instilling a sense of pride and fostering socialization 

opportunities. It enhances the social bonds in the community and provides socioeconomic benefits. 

At the same time, they recognized the events' impact on the city's traffic patterns. In this research, 

residents are not just ready, but willing to sacrifice certain inconveniences because the social 

benefits are significant. This demonstrates their strong commitment to the well-being of the 

community. This study shows that the interviewed residents are not only incredibly supportive of 

the event itself but also support further sport events in the future. Residents also believed that the 

costs of the event did not exceed the benefits in terms of positive social – benefits which explains 

their support and is in line with the results from previous studies in the context of sporting events 

(Gursoy & Kendall, 2006; Deccio & Baloglu, 2002) 

 

Conclusion  

This study aimed to examine residents' perceptions toward the social impacts of the premier 

annual event, the Indy 500, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis. The findings 

suggest that the residents in the sample could acknowledge that the benefits outweigh the costs and, 

therefore, support and accept the event. Overall, the study found that the residents of Indianapolis 

are aware of the importance of hosting the Indy 500 in the city. Therefore, a dominance of positive 

views on behalf of residents was noted, with informants identifying various social benefits 

associated with hosting the event. The findings reveal how involvement in the event and its 

recurring nature over time contributed to it becoming a delightful tradition for the residents of 

Indianapolis (Getz et al., 2012).  

In addition, the general idea that the more significant perceived benefits will lead to more 

positive attitudes has been supported by the findings of this research; however, the perceived costs 

will lead to more negative attitudes, which seems not to be supported by the identified results. 

Residents recognize the event's actual benefits and could be more supportive of hosting similar 

events in the future. Therefore, it is essential to minimize the costs and enhance the benefits of 

events to win their support for hallmark events. Therefore, this study is beneficial as it may offer 

profound suggestions for event organizers to maintain a favorable attitude among residents towards 

this premier annual event and try to mitigate the challenges associated with hosting the event by 

adopting appropriate event strategies. For example, the city can adjust its suggested plan for 

increased traffic and visitors.  

Theoretically , the use of the qualitative method technique to analyze the data could have 

significant future implications since it can be said that there are limited qualitative methods used in 

the sports events literature, and this study placed more weight on the qualitative side since more 

meaningful data was extracted from analyzed data that explained why the perceived impacts and are 

so significant in influencing residents support  towards a hallmark event not just identified them. 

Thus, it would be imperative for future studies to include a broader range of participants, such as 

local businesses, volunteers, and event personnel, as this study had a restricted sample, consisting 

only of residents from Indianapolis city as it might offer different attitudes towards hosting recurring 

sporting events. 

 

 

 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025), 1-14, DOI: 10.18060/29384                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2025 Jumana Baqaain, Soonhwan Lee and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

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