Referral hospital role during two major international sporting tournaments: a retrospective analysis

Background

Major international sporting tournaments (MSTs) may challenge healthcare systems by increasing emergency department (ED) workload and emergency hospital admissions (EHAs). However, their impact on hospital utilization remains not well characterized.

Objectives

This study assesses the impact of three MSTs hosted in Poland—UEFA EURO 2012 (partially hosted), EHF EURO 2016, and the European Games 2023—on emergency healthcare utilization.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed using routinely collected aggregated data from the National Health Fund of Poland on ED visits and EHAs. Observed values during tournament months were compared with adjacent months and yearly averages. The dataset included 198 event-related fixtures across 59 competition days, involving over 1.1 million spectators. Statistical analysis used independent samples t-tests and segmented regression (p < 0.05).

Results

Across all three MSTs, ED workload and EHAs remained within expected variability. During UEFA EURO 2012, both ED visits and EHAs were below expected monthly and yearly averages. EHF EURO 2016 showed stable ED workload with a slight increase in EHAs, while the European Games 2023 demonstrated no meaningful deviation from expected utilization patterns. Segmented regression did not identify significant shifts in trends attributable to any of the events.

Conclusions

Major international sporting tournaments, including large-scale mega-events, were not associated with a detectable increase in ED workload or emergency hospital admissions. These findings suggest that well-coordinated venue-based medical services, combined with adaptive planning considering seasonal variation and spectator demographics, may contribute to minimal impact on local hospitals and support stable emergency care delivery during MSTs. Further research using higher-resolution, event-level and patient-level data is warranted to better characterize transient effects and refine preparedness strategies.

Key messages

• Well-planned venue-based medical services and efficient coordination with hospitals can prevent measurable increases in emergency department workload during major sporting events.

• Aggregated data show no clear hospital admissions burden increase during MSTs, but event-level surveillance is needed to detect subtle or short-term effects.