Critically analyse how the media, sports funding, education and the business sectors have affected sport The sports industry can be categorised into three different sectors

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Task 5 B

Critically analyse how the media, sports funding, education and the business sectors have affected sport

The sports industry can be categorised into three different sectors which are based upon who is running the activity or where it is located. The three sectors are the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Public Sector

The public sector is a service that is provided for the general public. It is provided by local authorities whom provide facilities for the general public to use. Participation at these facilities is greatly encouraged usually through themed programmes such as Muslim ladies only swimming or free sessions for youngsters to get them involved in sport. A lot of facilities that are owned by the local authority often provide activities or sports such as swimming, indoor football, squash and the gym. What separates the public from the other two sectors is that it is the public’s own money that funds public sports facilities. Places such as leisure centres do charge an entry fee but profitability isn’t the main focus of these businesses.

        In the 1970’s local authority’s first started popping up with the aim to provide for everyone in the community. The problem was that through lack of proper investment the facilities began deteriorating and looking scruffy. They had achieved their goal of providing affordable sports access to the community but unfortunately lacked in other areas. Next arrived the fitness craze in the 1980’s which private companies quickly latched onto and outmuscled their public rivals.

In order to make the public sector more competitive the government introduced the compulsory competitive tendering in the late 1980s and early 90s. Being compulsory it meant that those managing public facilities had to raise their standards to match the standards shown by those running private sector facilities. Best Value was introduced on a voluntary basis in 1998 by the Government. Best Value became a statutory duty in 2003. The objective of Best Value is to ensure that management and business practices in local government deliver better and more responsive public services. This meant that local authorities have to:

  • Balance quality service provision against costs.
  • Achieve sustainable development.
  • Be accountable and transparent, by engaging with the local community.
  • Ensure equal opportunities.
  • Continuously improve the outcomes of the services they provide.

Still even to this day those managing public facilities are still finding funding a major problem. A lot of managers are finding it hard to re-furbish so they have looked to create charitable trusts which operate commercially while ploughing back profits into the business. Other remedies have been to strike up partnerships with private providers who offer long-term management contracts in return for investment.

The Private Sector

Private sector companies offer a service to the public much in the same way as a public facility except that they are selective as to which activities to be involved with (only those that are profitable), and their pricing structure mean that some sectors of the community cannot afford the charges. Private sectors organisations are branded and examples are fitness first, gold’s gym, William Hill and JJB sports.

The Voluntary Sector

The voluntary sector is the biggest of the three sectors. Most volunteers are found at grassroots level where you will find for example a lot of new coaches working for free in order to gain experience. You will still find volunteers in big organisations such as premiership football clubs all the way down to small grassroots organisations like at Wealdstone football club where they have a multitude of voluntary staff. It is estimated that there eight million people undertaking voluntary work in the UK.

Volunteers generally work for free or little money and every week thousands of volunteers and managers are organised across the country and they provide games and competition to a lot of people of varying ages. There are some voluntary organisations that need to cover their costs in order to pay for necessities such as new kit and keeping the clubhouse décor up to date.

The voluntary sector has a symbiotic relationship with the public and private sectors. Basically it needs the other two sectors in order to survive. Volunteers need pitches and changing rooms etc that will be provided by the public sector whilst the private sector will often sponsor local teams in order to help them buy kit and travel. Clubs and teams need finance, while companies and local authorities need happy paying customers, to keep them either in profit or in power.

Many of the larger voluntary groups are able to:

  • Influence decisions about sports organisation and provision in that area
  • Obtain charitable status to reduce their tax liabilities

Sports Funding

Historically sport in the UK was not centrally coordinated and sports funding was allocated by independent bodies. Since the 1960’s sports funding has progressively increased as the governments have realised the benefits of becoming involved with sports. Sports funding kicked off in a major way after England smashed the Germans to win the 1966 World Cup. As with England winning any sort of trophy for example The Ashes and the Rugby world cup there is always a boom period immediately after and the sport and everyone involved in it become of great national interest. So after the world cup win in 1966 the whole of the country was on a high and morale all round was boosted. The government latched on to this and realised they could gain valuable votes through being associated with these sporting accolades, thus they invested in sporting facilities through the 60’s and 70’s. In the 80’s the government once again invested in sports facilities due to growing riots and hooliganism rife in major cities in England. They 80’s was a time when there were a lot of riots due to race issues and was also a boom period for football hooliganism that a lot of today’s movies are founded upon. The government’s response to counteract the social degradation of its major cities was to fund projects and facilities that would bring people together in their communities. Between 1988 and 1992 the ever popular conservative government decided to rein in the amount that it gave to sport. The government slashed capital funding for sport from £300 million a year to just £125 million. In other words, it would take over half the total amount available to sport from the national lottery just to replace this lose in funding. Also in 1991/1992 funding through the Department of National Heritage was phased out. This department helped local authorities with their capital expenditure on sport. This was done through credit approvals.

Current funding sources:-

The Sports council

The sports council gives about £11 million a year in grants to sports clubs. These are routed through the Regional sports Councils in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own sports councils with separate allocations of money. Sports councils are also crucial sources of help, advice and endorsements.

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The National Lottery

This is the largest single grant giver to sport with about £300 million a year. It is administered by the Sports Council. Grants are given for capital projects (I.e. buildings, equipment etc.)

Governing bodies

All major sports have their own governing bodies. Their role is mainly to develop their sport. However, some also give grants to organisations and individuals.

Central and local government

Most government money for sport goes to the Sports Council or to local authority departments of sport and leisure.

European money

Some sports organisations have received substantial grants ...

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