Abstract
Notwithstanding the fact that Brazil is about to host two mega-sporting events, the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic games, local economic historians have yet to take sports seriously. As part of a project to correct this oversight, I analyze the social economics of two early sports competitions hosted by Brazil, the South American Football Championship in 1919 and the South American Games in 1922. I highlight the financing of the infrastructure for the two events and the connections with Arnaldo Guinle, a member of one of the most important and richest families in Brazil and president of the Fluminense Futebol Club that steered the two competitions. I argue that in the economic detail of this financing we can learn important lessons relating to the hosting of contemporary mega-sporting events in Brazil.
