Time and money expenditure in sports participation: The role of income in consuming the most practiced sports activities in Flanders

Highlights

•	Differences exist between determinants of time versus money expenditure on sports participation.
•	Income is positively related with time and money expenditure for majority of sports activities.
•	The income-time-elasticities and income-expenditure-elasticities are relatively high for winter sports, running and tennis.
•	The income-time-elasticities and income-expenditure-elasticities are relatively low for walking, fitness, horse riding and swimming.

Abstract

Given the recent economic crisis and the risen poverty rates, sports managers need to get insight in the effect of income and other socio-economic determinants on the household time and money that is spent on sports participation. By means of a Tobit regression, this study analyses the magnitude of the income effect for the thirteen most practiced sports by households in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), which are soccer, swimming, dance, cycling, running, fitness, tennis, horse riding, winter sports, martial arts, volleyball, walking and basketball. The results demonstrate that income has a positive effect on both time and money expenditure on sports participation, although differences are found between the 13 sports activities. For example, the effect of income on time and money expenditure is relatively high for sports activities like running and winter sports, while it is lower for other sports such as fitness, horse riding, walking and swimming. Commercial enterprises can use the results of this study to identify which sports to focus on, and how they will organise their segmentation process. For government, the results demonstrate which barriers prevent people from taking part in specific sports activities, based upon which they should evaluate their policy decisions.

Keywords:

• Household sports participation
• Household sports expenditure
• Household time
• Tobit
• Elasticities

Notes

1 In this study walking and cycling are voluntary, sportive leisure activities, and not physical activity parameters. Cycling and walking to work, to the grocery store, or taking stairs are thus not incorporated, although from a biomedical point of view these activities contribute to physical activity.

2 Annual number of hours = number of times a week * number of minutes per time/60 * 52.

3 The elasticities were calculated using the margins-command in Stata.