Sport now plays a bigger part in England's economy than at any time for the last 25 years, according to a new report. The study, conducted by Sheffield Hallam university on behalf of Sport England, said sport now accounted for 2.3% of all consumer spending and 1.8% of employment.
The report says football is the largest contributor, but that all sports have had a role to play in driving consumer spending up to £17.3bn in 2008. All told, 441,000 people now have sport-related jobs.
Mihir Warty, director of strategy and research at Sport England, said a large part of the growth has been driven by the explosion of media rights and the increase in sportswear sales. Against that backdrop, he said the government now needs to harness sport's economic power to make the nation more active.
Conscious perhaps of the deep financial cuts being implemented by the current government, Warty also added that sport's contribution to the economy had been helped by a rise in investment from the public sector, from Sport England itself, to local authorities, and the spending on the London Olympics.
