The Current Scale and the Economic Importance of the Sports Industry

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The Current Scale and the Economic Importance of the Sports Industry

Over 100 years ago the scale of the sports industry has increased

gradually. Not all sports have followed in the same path or

footsteps. A slow increasing level of control has been affecting the

sports industry since 1960Â’s. Mainly standardisation and

commodification of sport. More money has been put into the industry

equivalent with the efforts that the sports organisations have put in,

to increase their potential at the professional end of the scale, and

the voluntary end they remain sustainable.

The sports industry is a very big business that contributes great

amounts to the economy in terms of turnover, taxes and jobs. The

sports industry has an economic cycle. So it depends on different

parts of the year to hold big events. The benefits to be gained are

that local communities as suppliers of services and goods obtain

increased business. When the world cup was hosted by Japan it brought

in a big influx of foreign currency, tourists and additional spending

on goods and services. Large sport events such as Wimbledon or the

European championship has a similar effect as a multiplier effect.

The economic situation of British football has changed massively in

the last ten years: what was a hugely under-capitalised industry at

the end of the 1980s (that operated on very tight margins and often

had to endure enormous losses) has been transformed into a

multi-million pound business where the maximisation of revenue and

profit are key strategic objectives for clubs and associations alike.

(http://www.liv.ac.uk/footballindustry/ninetieshtml).

There has been a rapid growth in professional footballers since 1986

accompanied by a significant increase in player employment turnover

There are a number of employment opportunities available to those on

the football programmes. These include coaching in the community,

club secretaries, retail managers, web designers and managers,

marketing managers and coaches.

Participation at a local level is on the up. Consistently top of the

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