Presently the competition between the countries for the right to host various international events becomes more and more intense, turning into a political competition. However, such events facilitate regional economic upswings of the host countries, in the first place. In his article, the author analyzes the impact of XXVII Worldwide Summer Universiade 2013 on Kazan’s economic and social development. Based on the previous experience, it has been shown that the success of 2018 FIFA World Cup which for the first time will be held in the Russian Federation is guaranteed.