The commercial world of sport in Ireland is on the crest of a wave as we enter 2016. Such is the judgement of a major feature in the December issue of Sport Business magazine.
The feature includes contributions from experts including Maeve Buckley of Line Up SME, Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business, Stephen Smith of Kitman Labs and Gerry Dawson of Destination Marketing.
It includes analysis of the strength of the sports technology sector here in Ireland and the cluster effect that has contributed to that. It also looks at how sports tourism is playing an increasingly important role in event placement and creation around the world.
“Sport is in the DNA of Ireland and we tend to be more universal in our love of sport than other countries. That means sport is inter-woven across our society and that has an impact on anyone who moves to Ireland to work in any industry. Creating a technology hub and layering it into a country obsessed with sport means a sports technology has emerged as a by product.” -Rob Hartnett, Sport for Business
“We’ve come out of a tough recession and in October, as part of its 2016 budget, the irish government pledged to increase funding into sport by 40 per cent with a combination of capital and current expenditure. The Government here gets the importance of sport and its position within the knowledge economy.” – Rob Hartnett, Sport for Business
The article is a powerful statement in an influential forum. It positions Ireland as a central hub for how sport is likely to develop in commercial terms in the coming years.
