As a category, Developmental States (DS) in the world political economy express a distinctive set of ideological practices that give them specific incentives to host sporting mega-events. Asian DSs, or ‘late(r) developers’, in particular offer interesting case studies by which to explore the symbolic value such states attach to hosting Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and other major sporting events. This paper examines five Asian examples (Tokyo Olympic Games 1964, Seoul Olympic Games 1988, Beijing Olympic Games 2008, Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games 1998, and Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010) from the past half century which, despite their variations, illustrate the role of mega-event hosting among DSs and, specifically, the effect these events are intended to have in signalling conceptions of modernity and legitimacy to the international community and world society on behalf of their host cities/countries. Despite thenearly ubiquitous claims to economic growth and development, which accompany the bidding...