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10 January 2008

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A growth of nearly 50% in five years

Research commissioned by Sport England shows that sport-related economic activity in England reached a record high of £15.47 billion in 2005. This includes everything from sales of sports clothing and equipment to jobs in the sports industry.

This is nearly a 50% increase since 2000. The growth in England’s sport economy has outstripped that of the economy as a whole, as well as comparable sectors such as gambling.

Karren Brady, CEO of Birmingham City Football Club and Board Member of Sport England, said:

“This research shows the sporting pound is very important to the economic health of the nation. 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 increase in subscriptions.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Sport-related economic activity in England increased from £10.37 billion in 2000 to £15.47 billion in 2005; an increase of almost 50%*
  
• Consumer expenditure on sport in England increased from £11.81 billion in 2000 to £16.58 billion in 2005; an increase of 40%
  
• The highest category of consumer spending is ‘participation subscription and fees’ at £3.5 billion in 2005 - more than sports-clothing and gambling categories
  
• Spending on sports-related equipment increased from £0.7 billion in 2000 to £1.2 billion in 2005, an increase of 67%
  
• Sports clothing (20%), subscriptions and fees (20%) and sports equipment (19%) accounted for the majority of consumer expenditure on sport in 2005, while admission to events accounted for just 4% of consumer sport expenditure
  
• Sport-related employment in England stood at 434,000 jobs in 2005, an increase of 68,500 jobs (19%) since 2000
  
• In 2005 sport-related employment in England accounted for 1.8% of all employment in the country, greater than the combined employment of the radio, TV and publishing sectors
  
• The majority of sport-related jobs (76%) are in the commercial sector, with 12% in the voluntary sector and 12% in the public sector
  
• Public and voluntary sector sport-related jobs increased from 63,000 in 1985 to 103,000 in 2005
  

The research was carried out by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of Sport England.

*This is based on current prices.

Ends

For further information, or to request an interview, please contact Chris Rolfe at Sport England, on 020 7273 1593.

Notes to Editors:

The Economic Impact of Sport has been assessed across England as a whole (from 1985-2005) and separately for each region (2000-2005).

Reports are available to read in full at:
www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/mapping_the_landscape/sport_and_the_economy.htm

Sport England is a non-departmental public body and National Lottery distributor.

We are committed to creating a world class community sports development system and increasing participation in sport.

Sport England has been a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting playing fields since August 1996. We object to any application that is detrimental to sport, unless alternative provision of at least equivalent value is found elsewhere.  

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