Major sporting events (MSEs) have been used by governments to improve the image of cities and nations, and to attract tourists. In the wake of criticism of how global MSEs handle human-rights issues, governments are pressured to rethink how these events are organised and branded. Developing and employing an analytical framework based on inclusive place branding and pathways to progressive human-rights outcomes, this study explores how and to whom inclusiveness is communicated in five Olympic Games candidate files. A quantitative content analysis is performed using keywords related to inclusiveness and three characteristics of inclusiveness are analysed qualitatively: democratic representation, inclusive participation, and committed transformation. The findings show that three of the candidate files predominantly belong to the traditional place branding paradigm through their focus on external stakeholders, while two have adopted a more inclusive place branding strategy and put emphasis on internal stakeholders. The analytical framework introduced in this study can be useful for both researchers and practitioners – such as prospective hosts of MSEs and other events – as a conceptual tool to analyse and develop inclusiveness in major events.