In the scholarly article “The Four ‘Knowns‘ of Mega Sports Events,” Author John Horne studies the impacts of large scale sporting events on the host community’s tourism market and economy.  By utilizing a speech given by Donald Rumsfeld regarding Iraq in 2003, Horne compares mega sports events to a philosophy of dimensions.  Known Known’s are things we know that we know, Known Unknowns are things that we know that we don’t know and Unknown Unknowns which are things we do not know we don’t know.  The article states that one dimension was missed, which are Unknown Knowns, things we don’t know that we know.   In the introduction of the article, Horne describes that mega-events are “large-scale cultural events, which has a dramatic character, mass popular appeal and international significance.”  It is inferred that hosting a mega-event has significant consequences to the city, region or nation while it attracts an unprecedented amount of media coverage. This means that hosting a mega-event without media coverage would be a contradiction. 

 In consideration of the dimensions listed above, a few underlying assumptions can be inferred by Horne’s statements.  For Known Known’s it is stated that the popularity of mega-sports events has grown over the past twenty years.  Due to the fact that the Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic games were no longer held within the same year, it allowed for more communities to host the games as well as boost media coverage to each area.  This is a solid argument as statistics show increases in participation across all boards like the number of athletes, onlookers, media attention and overall events.  The trend of mega sports events have caught on in the public as a reasonable pastime. 

 For Known Unknowns Horne argues that there are both positive and negative consequences to a community hosting a mega sports event.  As research has began to show, the impacts to hosting a large scale sporting event, like the Olympics, has a large amount of socio-economic, socio-cultural, physical and political impacts.  The main reason for hosting a mega sports event is for economic gain.  Horne clearly shows an understanding of the outcomes of hosting a mega event.  Between economic gain and losses, Horne covers all aspects and outcomes. 

 As for Unknown Unknowns, Horne makes a solid argument that this means we do not have the information and that, in fact, if we did have any information on Unknown Unknowns, it would become Known Unknowns.  In essence, research will need to be conducted to figure out the unknown. 

 Lastly, Horne describes the fourth topic that Rumsfeld missed when discussing Iraq, the Unknown Knowns which is said to be what we don’t remember that we know.  Horne gives an argument that basically states that we are now seeing the differences between opportunity cost versus the benefits of hosting a mega sports event.  This means that the cost of hosting a mega sports event and the economic gain compete against each other.  For example, the cost to build everything is expensive, but palliated by economic growth during the events, which then turn into economic downturn a few years after the fact.  It is Unknown of what would happen, but Known that either the host community will turn into a tourist site or become desolate. 

 Overall, Horne gives solid arguments about host communities and the outcomes of mega sports events.  The way he introduced the topic was both different, but easy to understand.  Throughout the article, Horne is clear in what he is stating and consistent in his writing style.  References are used throughout the article to validate the information and he clearly explains his theoretical framework of the positives and negatives to mega sports events.  

Source: The Four “Knowns” of Sports Mega Events