A report produced and published by Sport England has placed the economic value of sport in Britain at a figure of £20.3 billion per annum (€23.5 billion) with grassroots sport responsible for well over half of this total.
The study, which focused on a wide range of indicators from 2010, and which does not yet include the bounce from London’s hosting the 2012 Olympics, shows that the growth in sport has outstripped the English economy as a whole, and is now worth 1.9% of its gross value.
It reveals that sport is one of the top 15 industry sectors in the overall economy and that it has a greater value than telecoms services, car sales and repairs, insurance and accounting.
£11.78 billion of sport’s contribution comes from people playing sport and related expenditure such as sports equipment and coaching.
£4.9 billion is attributed to the value of volunteering and sports education. £4.4 billion is paid over by way of sports club membership subscriptions and £1.2 billion is spent each year on sporting goods and equipment.
Another £8.5 billion comes from people’s consumption of sport. This is made up of £4.4 Billion on TV Satellite sports subscriptions, another figure likely to climb with the addition of BT Sport as real competition to Sky; £1.1 billion on attendance at sporting fixtures and the same amount again on sports betting and gaming.
More than 440,000 people have sport-related jobs, accounting for 2.3% of all employment.
The figures are broadly comparable to similar research undertaken in Ireland by the Federation of Irish Sport but also point out room for growth here with the right level of investment.
The Value of Irish Sport to the economy was estimated in 2012 to be €1.8 billion. Multiplying this by 12 in line with the respective populations of Ireland and England would give a value that is around 90% that of the English contribution, again not taking into account the Olympic bounce that 2012 will deliver across the water.
For a nation as devoted to sport, we should be looking to match or beat similar figires for neighbouring countries.
One step in this direction could be a move towards multi annual funding of sport which would itself breed greater confidence, more consistent programmes and greater ability to attract partnership investment from the commercial sector.
The reasons for doing this are not only to produce winning teams on a world stage but at a much more granular level improving the overall health and wellbeing of the nation.
The Sport England report places an annual value of health benefits generated by grassroots sport at £11.2 billion, with a £1.7 billion saving in healthcare costs.
That is a comparison which should be very much to the fore in terms of budget planning for 2014 and beyond which will be finalised over the next two months.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
