James MacDougall

Head of Policy, Sport and Recreation Alliance

Financing of Sport in the EU

Proportion of people never playing sport

Sport participation in EU

Those that regularly and somewhat regularly participate

• Sweden 72%

• Finland 71%

• Denmark 64%• Ireland

58%• Netherlands 56%• Slovenia

52%• Luxembourg 51%

• Belgium 50%

• Germany 49%• France

48%• Malta

48%• UK

46%

• EU Average 40%

Why are people not active?

Gambling services0,7%

Households69,6%

Local authorities16,0%

National govt2,2%

Media rights3,5%

Sponsorship12,5%

Commercial Companies

1,0%

Revenue breakdown by source (2008, in %)Revenue to sport at EU level

• Subscriptions• Commercial income• Voluntary work• Public subsidies (central government, local

government, state lotteries, tax breaks)• Sponsorship• Solidarity payments

Funding model for Amateur Sports

406.63

381.93

363.19

350.00

341.92

298.88

296.26

273.78

242.35

224.25

150.97

119.74

76.99

40.74

34.00

29.35

23.45

17.52

15.74

11.87

6.56

6.18

1.51

- 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00 350.00 400.00 450.00

United Kingdom

Finland

Netherlands

Denmark

Austria

Sweden

Germany

Ireland

France

Cyprus

Belgium

Italy

Malta

Portugal

Latvia

Czech Republic

Poland

Slovenia

Romania

Estonia

Lituania

Slovakia

Bulgaria

Households expenditure (€ per capita)

Household Expenditure per Capita (€)

Household Expenditure v GDP per Capita

28.3 21.8

19.4 17.5

16.5 13.7

12.0 10.4

10.2 10.1

9.8 8.4

7.9 7.8

7.7 7.0 6.9

6.0 5.9

4.8 3.7

3.1 2.9

2.7 1.7

- 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0

LuxembourgCyprusIreland

DenmarkFinland

SwedenGrèceLatvia

BelgiumEstoniaFrance

SloveniaAustria

MaltaCzech Republic

PortugalItaly

LituaniaHungarySlovakia

NetherlandsPoland

SpainRomania

United KingdomBulgaria

Germany

Sports Ministry budget (€ per capita)

56.1

84.3

Sports Ministry Budgets per Capita (€)

145.12

133.67

86.85

59.15

55.93

55.00

54.20

51.27

36.51

34.36

32.50

28.63

24.85

24.53

17.54

13.40

9.18

8.80

6.50

3.32

2.37

1.24

0.47

0.27

- 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00 140.00 160.00

Ireland

France

Finland

Denmark

Germany

Belgium

Sweden

Luxembourg

Netherlands

United Kingdom

Estonia

Italy

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Hungary

Latvia

Poland

Lituania

Czech Republic

Bulgaria

Spain

Malta

Romania

Cyprus

Local Authorities funding (€ per capita)

276.45

Local Authority Funding per Capita (€)

26.36

17.19

15.20

12.66

11.17

10.34

8.23

6.36

5.69

5.61

4.34

3.89

3.28

3.10

2.82

2.69

1.84

1.72

1.44

1.05

1.0

1.00

0.46

0.28

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

Denmark

Finland

Sweden

Grèce

Cyprus

Ireland

United Kingdom

Germany

Austria

Slovenia

Luxembourg

Czech Republic

Poland

France

Netherlands

Spain

Bulgaria

Hungary

Estonia

Belgium

Lituania

Malta

Romania

Portugal

Sport financing by Lotteries (€ per capita)

Lottery Funding per Capita (€)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Slovakia

Bulgaria

Estonia

Portugal

Latvia

Lituania

France

Slovenia

Average structure

Poland

Finland

Denmark

Italy

Sweden

Ireland

Germany

Netherlands

Cyprus

United Kingdom

State

Local Authorities

Households

Enterprises

Lottery (extra budgetary)

Structure of Sport Funding by Country

• Sport as a good

• Sports participation is a “normal good” – demand increases with income

• Correlation between GDP and household expenditure

• The “club goods” problem:

• Low income communities have no swimming pools

• Rich communities have private pools

• Communal swimming clubs are a middle income solution

• Future of funding of grassroots sport

• Outlook could be bleak if household spending under pressure

• Government unlikely to fill the gap

Thoughts on the data

Funding Opportunities- Mainstream Funding

 Sports related projects are funded in the EU- BUT projects must meet the goals

of other funding streams

Youth in Action- Young people (13- 30); youth exchanges, youth initiatives and the exchange in volunteers

Lifelong Learning- Education and training

Europe for Citizens- European citizen programmes; bigger, pan-European organisations can also apply for structural support

Health Programme- Sports related projects for healthy lifestyles and health enhancing physical activity are possible

DAPHNE- projects designed to prevent or combat violence against children, young people and women

 

Future Funding

 The Commission has proposed that a specific sport sub-programme is included in

the wider Education Europe programme from 2014.

• Tackling transnational threats- doping, violence, racism, intolerance

• Developing European co-operation e.g. creating guidelines for good governance and dual careers

• Supporting grassroots sport organisations addressing wider socioeconomic challenges