El Sector de l'esport, entre la precarietat i la globalització

Abstract

The world of sport is made up of different heterogeneous agents including sports clubs, companies providing sports services to the public and sports units for schools and firms. There are also centres that teach us how to perform and improve sports (training centres, which are schools, universities and national physical education institutes in Catalonia, training and high performance centres), companies that provide the setting and facilities (facilities and equipment) and those providing other resources (companies specialising in equipment, materials, sector services, sports management). As a whole, they account for between 3% and 5% of GDP in developed countries and this share is growing. Sport has now evolved and taken on new characteristics: as a generator of health, an educational tool, ameans of re-educating and reinserting people into society, sport as physical activity and as a consumer good, sports associations, professional sport and sport as entertainment.However,we can establish three kinds of agent depending on the level of cost of the sports installations involved and the degree of commitment of those carrying out the sport, resulting in different key forms of financing: consumer (high cost, low commitment) with public financing; spectator (high cost and commitment) with public and private financing, and actor (low cost, high commitment) with private financing. According to SportBusiness, in 2006 television and other media financed 37% of the sector; brands 30%; sports agents 10%; sports people 10%; federations 9%and clubs 4%. The brand value (of the club) and media value are currently very important. In this respect, there are two very different examples of the sports business model: one is based on sport, such as the America's Cup (going from a regatta to an event, transforming a city with strong economic impact and a view of competition as a resource to generate wealth), and for example the BarcelonaWorld Race, where the goals are to boost sport, the city, sustainability, solidarity, education and protection in the long term.