Abstract: Although the major sports events have the catalytic function of promoting urban transformation, they also have potentials to drag down the local economy.The reason may be it lacks a clear understanding of the internal laws and mechanisms of urban economic development.This article focuses on the economic effects of major sports events on urban development.Twenty two sports events with national influences from 2000 to 2017 are selected.Using the panel data of 70 large and medium-sized cities in China, the double differences method is used to analyze the impact of major sports events on the urban economy.Studies have shown that holding major sports events under the full sample data will promote the development of the city's primary industry to the secondary and tertiary industries.The study of domestic and international competitions has further verified that the promotion of major sports events to the tertiary industry is significantly higher than that of the secondary industry.Taking the data of 1 085 listed companies as samples, using the event research method, the analysis of subdivision industry shows that there are significant differences in the window period of different major sports events.