The importance of sports to the UK economy
by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing ConsultantThere’s no doubt
that the summer of 2018 will be difficult to top! With an uncharacteristically hot
summer making for the perfect backdrop to all the barbecues we ever dreamed of,
alongside an unpredictably fantastic performance in the World Cup for the
English football team that single-handedly boosted the nation’s spirits even
further, it was by all accounts a cracking summer. 2020 is set to bring us
another worldwide celebration of sport with the Olympics in Tokyo, so you’d be
forgiven for thinking 2019 might end up being something of a lull for the
sporting world to recharge.
Not so. In fact,
some news correspondents are forecasting
another great year for UK sports. In particular, cricket is set to be the
focus of the year while men’s football takes a backseat, as both the Cricket
World Cup and the Ashes series are to be held in England.
Even a ‘quiet’
year has so much going on in the sporting world then. With that in mind, just
how integral is the sporting industry to the overall UK economy? In this
article, we will cover how the sporting industry supports the UK both in a
financial capacity and beyond.
Input to the economy
If you’re not into
sports (and perhaps even if you are), the wages enjoyed by sporting
professionals might seem ludicrous. In particular, the six-figure
weekly wages of top-league football players is a point of contention for
some. What are we, as a nation, getting in return for such a cost?
Well, beyond the
enjoyment of watching sport, the industry supports a huge part of the UK
economy. According to CareerBuilder, the sports industry tallies up a
whopping £23.8 billion annually for the economy. Let’s put a little context
on that figure with a look at other contributors to the economy. The tourism
industry, which the sporting industry technically supports as well thanks to
the number of sports fan tourists seeking out games to spectate, brings
in £24.5 billion for the economy every year.
Meanwhile, the
Royal Family brings in around £1.8
billion to the UK economy each year, depending on the number of royal
weddings of course! But this is outstripped by even one single contributor of
the sporting world, with cycling
drawing in £3 billion each year on its own. It’s a clear contrast that
shows just how important the sporting industry is to the nation’s economy,
standing toe-to-toe with the tourism industry.
Input beyond finances
Naturally, the
sporting sector brings in benefits for the UK beyond financial too. There’s the
sense of community it fosters, such as the nationwide burst of pride we all
felt, sports fans or not, when England performed so well in the World Cup! This
sense of social value also extends to supporting skills outside of sports — for
example, numeracy skills in underachieving young people were seen to increase
by 29% when becoming a regular sports participant.
Then, there’s the
employment side of things. The sporting industry supports over 400,000
full-time positions in England alone.
Plus, there’s the
obvious health factor. Participating in sports, which is undoubtedly spurred
and motivated in many ways by fans looking up to athletes they admire, brings a
much-needed boost to the nation’s health.
Protecting the commodity
The pitches
With such a strong
presence in the UK’s financial stability, what is being done to ensure our
sports capabilities are world-class? Well, for one, we have to maintain the
best venues for both the players and spectators! A poor pitch can have a huge
impact on the game it is hosting. Take Euro 2016, for example: while that
year’s unusually wet summer left the French pitches in a terrible state, the
UK’s football pitches were kept in prime condition. Of course, wet weather is
the very foundation of which groundkeepers are experienced in here in the UK! With
hybrid
turf technology, undersoil heating, and pop-up sprinklers, our fields are
ready for any eventuality. Keeping the soil warm ensures the grass doesn’t fall
into its dormant, brown hue and stays green all winter.
As well as keeping
the grass warm to avoid it going dormant, adequate draining is also needed to
keep the grass from succumbing to the usually damp and dreadful British
weather. One such method utilised by football pitches is pipe
and slit drained pitches, which consists of a layer of firmed topsoil,
stone back-fill, subsoil, and a perforated plastic pipe, along with a slit
drain and sand blinding layer to allow water to drain down and away.
Sports funding
Of course, it’s
not just football being maintained to such a high level. Thanks to UK Sport
investing in a range of sports with money from the National Lottery and
Exchequer income, other sporting disciplines are also flourishing on UK soil.
Particularly with
the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, current
funding is generous indeed. Example figures include £29,624,264 to cycling,
£9,838,913 to taekwondo, and £16,457,953 to gymnastics.
The world of sport
is hugely beneficial to the UK, in terms of economy and society. The sector
sees a huge amount of funding and manpower, but for good reason, with the
industry bringing in so much and putting the UK in the global eye as a key
sporting participant.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Aug 27th 2019 05:40. Viewed 558 times.