Consumers' expenditure on sport in the UK: increased spending or underestimation?

Abstract

The paper will present the findings of a consumer survey carried out in Sheffield in 1996/97 to demonstrate that spending on sport-related goods and services in the UK has been underestimated. It will argue that consumers' expenditure on sport by residents in Sheffield was greater than anticipated from national estimates, largely due to methodological reasons rather than increased spending. The paper will illustrate that conventional approaches, which use published data sources to measure sport-related expenditure are firstly, not a valid measure of sports spending and secondly, have omitted several items of sport-related expenditure from current estimates. The paper will explore the implications of these findings for policy makers and managers of sport and leisure services and will suggest that a review of methods used to calculate consumer spending on sport is required in the future.