Understanding the importance of sport infrastructure for participation in different sports – findings from multi-level modeling

Abstract

Previous research has shown that participation in different sports can be predicted using a socioeconomic model. However, the importance of sport infrastructure for sport participation in different sports has been mostly ignored. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of various types of sport facilities on participation in different sports. Using multi-level analyses, an assortment of sport participation surveys with an overall sample size of n=9302, combined with data concerning the municipalities' sport infrastructure are used to test for the effect of infrastructure on sport participation. The results imply that different sports are impacted by different indicators, and that substitution effects could occur. The findings suggest, for example, that municipalities that are aware of the limited supply of swimming pools should promote sport participation in running, through emphasizing the sport opportunities available in parks.

Keywords:

• hierarchical model
• sport activity
• sport facilities
• substitution effect
• physical activity