The proponents of major sporting events (MSEs), such as the Olympic Summer Games, often claim that these events produce positive effects on the level of democratization and respect for human rights of the host countries. In contrast, the critics of MSEs are concerned that hosting a MSE allows the regime to consolidate power internally and gain international recognition, impeding the likelihood of positive long-term changes. I use cross-national panel data over a period of more than 70 years and a diverse set of empirical methods–interactive fixed effects counterfactual estimator, synthetic difference-in-differences, and synthetic control–which together provide a robust analysis of the effects of MSEs on indices of democratization and human rights. The results show no significant long-term effect on democratization and human rights. The analyses presented in this article imply that the power of MSEs to foster democratization and human rights is limited.