Research commissioned by Sport England has revealed that sports-related economic activity in England reached a record high of £15.47 billion in 2005. The figure, a near-50 per cent increase since 2000, includes everything from sales of sports clothing and equipment to jobs in the sports industry.
“This research shows the sporting pound is very important to the economic health of the nation,” says Karren Brady, a board member of Sport England and CEO of Birmingham City FC. “More people are using their wages to go and watch matches, buy sports clothing or splash out on the latest sports equipment. More importantly, new jobs are being created and sports clubs are benefiting from an increase in subscriptions.”
Key findings from the report include:
• Consumer expenditure on sport in England increased from £11.81 billion in 2000 to £16.58 billion in 2005 – an increase of 40 per cent.
• The highest category of consumer spending is ‘participation subscription and fees’ at £3.5 billion.
• Spending on sports-related equipment increased from £700 million in 2000 to £1.2 billion in 2005 – an increase of 67 per cent.
• Sports clothing (20 per cent), subscriptions and fees (20 per cent) and sports equipment (19 per cent) accounted for the majority of consumer expenditure on sport in 2005. Admission to events accounted for just four per cent of consumer sport expenditure.
• Sport-related employment in England stood at 434,000 jobs in 2005, an increase of 68,500 (19 per cent) since 2000.
• In 2005 sport-related employment in England accounted for 1.8 per cent of all employment in the country – greater than the combined employment of the radio, TV and publishing sectors.
