Sajid Javid challenges private sector to help shape the future of sport
by Matthew Campelli | 18 Nov 2015
Sajid Javid said the growing influence of business allowed for the continued investment in elite and grassroots sport / Wikicommons / Jed1357
Business secretary Sajid Javid has called on companies in the private sector to play a “massive role” in increasing participation rates in UK sport.
During his speech at an event held today (18 November), titled The Premier League and British Sport - The Economic Impact the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove said that the changing landscape of consuming and playing sport provided an opportunity for private sector firms.
Javid told industry delegates at London’s QEII Conference Centre that people wanting to participate in sport had a “wide range of options” and no longer had to join a Sunday league football team or local running club to get involved.
He highlighted the success of five-a-side football franchise Goals, which saw Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley take a 4.94 per cent stake in the business earlier this week, and Parkrun as companies that offered sport “without the red tape and regulation that comes with an event sanctioned by a governing body”.
“Sport is changing. The kind of sport we watch is changing. The way we consume it and participate in it is changing too, and the private sector has a massive role to play in this,” said Javid.
Javid pointed to the “symbiotic” relationship between business and sport, highlighting the revenue that had been generated by sporting events held in the UK over the past few years. Sports-related consumer spend is worth £30bn per year he added.
England’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup earlier this year accounted for “almost one billion pounds” to Britain’s GDP, while the Tour de France added £100m to Yorkshire’s economy. Meanwhile, the economic impact of the 2012 Olympic Games in London is expected to reach £41bn by 2020, according to the business secretary.
Javid said that while the growing influence of business in sport had left some disenfranchised, it allowed for the continued investment in elite and grassroots sport.
The Conservative government is expected to publish its strategy for sport, led by sports minister Tracey Crouch, in the coming weeks.
Javid’s speech coincided with the release of Ernst & Young’s report which revealed that the Premier League contributed £3.4bn to UK GDP over the year 2013/14, supporting more than 100,000 jobs and adding £2.4bn in taxes to the Exchequer.
According to the report, the league is now the third largest in the world, in revenue terms, behind US Major League Baseball and the National Football League (NFL).
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Business secretary Sajid Javid has called on companies in the private sector to play a “massive role” in increasing participation rates in UK sport. During his speech at an event held today (18 November), titled The Premier League and British Sport - The Economic Impact the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove said that the changing landscape of consuming and playing sport provided an opportunity for private sector firms. Javid told industry
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