Hosting sport mega-events is often viewed as a prize to be eagerly sought by potential host cities. Yet the recent International Olympic Committee experience with 2022 Winter Games bid cities has raised questions that have been simmering for some time. What do cities gain, if anything, from hosting a major sporting event that requires years of preparation and mobilizes resources and human capital at an unprecedented rate for the community, only to see the event come and go in a flash of a couple of weeks of intense excitement and activity? This presentation will explore some of the issues involved in hosting these events as they impact the host city and its residents. Several analytical approaches will be presented and illustrated with global examples. A special focus, given the proximity in time of the Canada Winter Games, will be given to the question of how the games-time event actually impacts local residents. Insights and data will be presented particularly from the Vancouver experience. The speaker is eager to compare the experience of larger cities hosting such events with smaller cities such as Prince George.