THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT

THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT /// 9Who are these people? Below,we provide thumbnail sketchesof participants in several of themain sports:Walking: 1.5 million adultsParticipants are predominantly female, with thehighest level of participation among over 65s.Walking is more popular in Munster (62%) thanin other regions. A quarter of all walkers do soseven days a week – the highest frequency forany sport or activity.Swimming: 0.7 million adultsParticipants are also predominantly female, withthe highest level of participation among 35-44year olds (32%). Parents with children under 18are more likely to swim (33%). The majority ofswimmers swim once a week or more often.Running: 0.6 million adultsFemales make up the majority of participants,while the highest level of participation is among16-25 year olds (36%). Dubliners are thekeenest on running (26% of all active adults).The majority of runners run twice a week ormore often.Cycling: 0.5 million adultsParticipants are slightly more female than male,with the highest level of participation among45-54s year olds (22%). Dubliners are again thekeenest on cycling (21% of all active adults).Nearly half of cyclists cycle twice a week ormore often.Golf: 0.4 million adultsParticipants are overwhelmingly male (25%vs 5%), with the highest level of participationamong over 45s (24%). Those in higher socioeconomic groups are more likely to participatethan those in lower groups (19% vs 12%).The majority of golfers do so once a week ormore often.Soccer: 0.3 million adultsParticipants are again overwhelmingly male(22% vs 4%), with the highest level ofparticipation among 35-44s (19%). Dublinersare the keenest players (16% of all activeadults). The majority play soccer once a week ormore often.Gaelic Football: 0.2 million adultsAs with soccer, the majority of players are male,with the highest level of participation amongunder 25s (15%). Frequency of playing is similarto soccer. Active adults living in Connacht/Ulsterare more likely to participate in Gaelic footballthan any other region (10%).Overall, such high levels of active participationinvolve considerable commitments of money aswell as time. In the next section, we look at thefinancial investment Irish people make insport – from gym membership to equipmentto fundraising.

10 /// THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORTSport Briefing:Children and SportThere is a growing realisation of the importanceof sport and exercise for our children, especiallyas the incidence of obesity increases. We askedall adults in our survey (whether interested insport or not) if they thought children were moreor less involved in exercise nowadays thanadults were when they were young? The answercouldn’t be clearer:Just over one in four (28%) think children aredoing more exercise nowadays than when theywere children. However, over six in ten (62%)think children are doing less exercise nowadayscompared to the past.That said, parents with children under 18 areslightly less negative: 35% think their childrenare doing more exercise, but 53% think they aredoing less exercise than when they – the parents– were children themselves.Why is this? Those who think children are doingless point to a large number of explanations,with entertainment technology rather than theschools or teachers themselves getting most ofthe blame:Reasons children are less involved in exercise nowadays.%Impact of video games. 84Impact of other digital devices. 77Impact of television. 71Being dropped to school in the morning. 62Children aren’t allowed out as much to play. 49Not being allowed to run in playgrounds. 45Not enough is being done to promote sport among young people. 30Not enough green areas. 22Too much school work. 21Base: all adults who participate in sport or exercise

THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT /// 11Ger GilroySports Editor, NewsTalkAs the country emerges from recession,the Government has a unique opportunityto leverage sports policy to deliver real andsubstantial benefits in terms of health andeducation in Ireland. But it needs an overarching vision of the future role and contributionof sport – from services to town planning tofunding – that will justify serious investment. Thekey thing is to realise that for every euro spentby the Government on sport there is a returnof five or more euro in additional activities, costsavings and more besides.We need to take a long term view: many of thechanges and benefits from a sustained focus onsport will only emerge after a decade or more ofinvestment in everything from sport in schools tohelping pensioners become more active. Sportpolicy has to be about more than elite track andfield sports, it needs to engage everyone in thebenefits of sport. For example, many Irish peoplehave become enthusiastic runners in recentyears – but a lot of them are doing it wrong andwould have benefited from proper coachingat school!More PE teachers in our schools would alsohelp, to provide a focus on fitness, health andnutrition to counteract the worrying trend inchildhood obesity. We can learn from othercountries such as the United States where highschool sport has been instrumental in keepingkids in school for longer, reducing dropout ratesand helping tackle problems of poverty andinequality that inevitably follow an incompleteeducation.On the issue of professional sports in Ireland,we have to come to terms with the limits ofoperating in a small country with small audiencesand fan bases. There is a natural ceiling to therevenues that can be generated by TV rights, forexample, especially for sports mainly of interestto a domestic audience. However, some ofthese limits can be overcome with a partnershipapproach such as that adopted for Rugby Pro12, where a joint deal is possible with the likesof Scotland and Wales. The big money in sportgoes to the big markets that get the big players,so we need to be smart about how we use theresources and networks at our disposal.We may need different types of sportsorganisations in the future to respond tothese and other developments. Sponsorshipof sport by alcohol companies is only goingto go one way, creating pressures for manyorganisations. Some teams and managers –like Jim McGuinness in Donegal – have beenclever about using the Diaspora and otheruntapped sources of financial support. Thereis undoubtedly a lot of wealth (private andcorporate) that others can tap as well.Some sports will find it easier than others. Irishsoccer is in a bad place right now, and mightneed to develop a ‘Celtic League’ style initiative(combining teams from Scotland and Wales) ifit is going to attract the right levels of supportand funding. Nevertheless, there are a lot ofgood things happening in Irish sport, drivenby partnerships and grass roots activities. Forexample, the Federation of Irish Sports is doinga great job helping coordinate and concentrateactivities. But we still need a guiding vision forsport that will build on the good works of othersand promote sport as a national priority.

12 /// THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORTMedia and SportCommentary byJonathan KellyPartner, Philip LeeMedia and sport are interdependent. Majorsports events drive substantial advertisingrevenue to the media. At the same time theaward of exclusive TV rights provides substantialrevenues to sporting organisations. Thisrelationship is particularly important in the majorfield sports such as GAA, soccer and rugby.It is less evident in minority sports.While the grant of exclusive rights to TVbroadcasters can generate substantial income,the award of media rights to pay televisionchannels affects substantial proportions ofsociety who would wish to view those eventson free to air services. For this reason in 1997the EU Commission adopted an amendmentto the Television Without Frontiers directiveobliging member states to take measures toensure that broadcasters in its jurisdiction donot broadcast on an exclusive basis eventswhich are regarded by that member state asbeing of major importance for society in sucha way as to deprive a substantial proportion ofthe public of the possibility of following suchevents on free television. There is clearly a needfor balance in the operation of these provisions.The recent agreement between the GAA andSky TV highlights the issues. It is not easy toachieve this balance because on the one handevery additional euro that goes into the sport asa result of the grant of exclusivity benefits thesport. On the other hand this exclusivity createshurdles for members of the public who wish toview the sport about which they are passionate.Another balancing act must also be performedby the national broadcaster. Under the PublicService Broadcasting Charter, RTE hascommitted to providing sports programmesthat reflect the demands for national, regional,minority and local sports in Ireland. This isreinforced by the Broadcasting Act 2009 whichobliges RTE to ensure that the programmeschedules provide coverage of sporting activitiesand cater for the expectations of the communitygenerally. In regulating the media to achievethe common good how far should regulationmandate a switch from screening the mostpopular sports to show minority sports instead?Minority sports are of substantial benefit tosociety. They will always struggle in terms offunding. Nevertheless they may have substantialnumbers of participants or may cater for physicalor intellectual skills that are different to the mainfield sports. These are issues with which thebusiness community can also engage by way ofsponsorship or patronage to the mutual benefitof both of the business and the sport.We hope that the analysis contained in thisreport will stimulate thought and encouragefurther participation by business in sponsorshipof both individuals and national governing bodies.

THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT /// 13MONEYANDMEMBERSHIP2

14 /// THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT2. MONEYand MEMBERSHIPSport is big business in Ireland; and ‘small’business too. In other words, beyond headlinesabout sponsorship deals, transfer fees etc,millions of fans, supporters and participantsspend millions of euro to drive the economy ofsport in Ireland.MembershipTake the gym business – most of us havebelonged to a gym at some stage, and manyhave dropped out. Gym membership is asignificant investment of time and money, sojoining and not using a gym is an expensiveoption. Our survey reveals that a third of thoseactive in sport or other physical activities aremembers of a gym – that’s nearly 850,000adults. But our survey also shows that halfof those who are not members used to bemembers – that’s over 900,000 adults./// Nearly 850,000 adults aremembers of a gym, but over900,000 used to be membersGym members tend to be slightly more femalethan male and predominantly under the age of35. Those in employment are more than twice aslikely to be members of a gym than those whoare unemployed:Those who were previously members, but areno longer in a gym, cite a range of reasonsfor their departure. The number one reason issimple affordability: 64% of ‘lapsed’ memberssay they had to make cut backs and gymmembership was one of them. For others it wasthe environment in the gym that turned themoff membership (for 17%), followed closely bythe fact that they just never went to the gym, sodidn’t get good value for money (16%)./// 64% of ‘lapsed’ gymmembers say they could nolonger afford membershipNevertheless, despite large numbers of ‘lapsed’gym members, those who do use gyms tend todo so quite frequently. As the chart shows, onein five uses the gym 4 or more times a week, andonly a minority use it less than weekly. Men tendto use the gym more frequently than women(despite comprising a minority of members).A key motivation for such dedication may well bethe cost of membership. About half of gym userspay their membership fee annually, and a thirdpay every month. Only 13% of gym membersin our survey pay on a weekly or ‘pay as yougo’ basis.Incidence of gym membershipAll ActiveMaleFemale16-2425-3435-4445-5455 33%31%35%46%43%30%21%22%Base: all adults who participate in sport or exercise

THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT /// 15Frequency of going to the gym%7 days a week24-6 times a week192-3 times a week53Once a week14A few times a month4Once a month2Less than once a month3Base: all gym membersHow much does it all cost? For those who payannually, the cost is 330 each. People who paymonthly typically spend 45 per month. Weeklyvisitors pay 50 per week, while ‘pay as yougo’ visitors pay 65 per visit. If we add up thetypical spend of gym goers on membership thenthe total annual expenditure is some 435 million./// Gym members spenda combined 435 million onmembership every yearBeyond gyms, Irish people have beenenthusiastic supporters of local sports clubsgoing back to the 19th century. Indeed, of the2.6 million people who participate in sport andother activities, 30% are members of a sportsIncidence of sports club membership – top 7 8Tennis7Base: all sports club membersclub – that’s nearly 0.8 million people. Menare much more likely to be club members thanwomen (43% of all active men vs 16% of activewomen), while older age groups (over 45)are more likely than younger groups to joinsports clubs./// Nearly 0.8 million activeadults are members ofsports clubsNot surprisingly, the GAA dominates in termsof club membership levels, comprising morethan a third of all those in sports clubs – thoughmembers are slightly more female than male,against the run of most other clubs. As the chartshows, golf is a distant second in the rankings,followed by soccer to make up the top three.

16 /// THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORTMembership has its costs as well as itsprivileges, so how much do Ireland’s sports clubmembers pay for membership? The averageannual cost – across all sports – is 330 perannum (coincidently, the same amount as thetypical annual membership fee for a gym).That adds up to 255 million spent on sportsclub membership every year (and excludes themembership fees of those who do not participatein sports or other physical activities)./// Sports club members spenda combined 255 million onmembership every yearOf course, most sports club members spend agreat deal more than just their membership feein their clubs. Though it is outside the scope ofthis study, spending on events, prize draws, foodand drink in sports clubs by members is anothersignificant source of income for clubs.Sport SpendingBeyond membership fees, there are severalother sports-related categories of spending thatamount to a significant part of the sport economyin Ireland. Take attendances at sporting events(amateur and professional, indoor and outdoor).We saw in the previous section that 2.3 millionadults attend such events through the year (plustheir children). The average sports fan spends 340 per annum on the various matches, heatsand finals that attract them. The combined totalexpenditure on attendance at sporting events istherefore some 760 million – more than gymand sports club membership combined./// Spending on attendance atsports events adds up to 760million per annumMen account for two thirds of this spending( 547 million), while 25-34 year olds make upthe largest individual age group – spending 278million alone. Dublin accounts for the lion’s shareregionally, at 318 million.Nor do fans limit their spending to match tickets.Many buy replicas of their team jerseys, otherteam related products. This ‘sports memorabilia’category is a big given that there are 2.8 millionpeople interested in sport, and they typicallyspend about 70 each every year on theirteams’ jerseys etc. Giving an annual total forthe category of nearly 200 million. This is acategory, by the way, in which Munster sportsfans spend more than Dublin sports fans – 63million vs 57 million./// Fans spend nearly 200million on their teams’ jerseysand other memorabiliaSo far we have focussed on membership andfan expenditure. But nowadays, spending onspecialist sports gear – clothing, footwear,equipment – is a major feature on Irish mainstreets and in our shopping centres. Some 2.6million adults actively participate in sports andexercise, generating a lot of demand for runnersetc. In fact, the active Irish spend nearly 450million on sports gear alone, on top of their othersports commitments./// The active Irish spend nearly450 million every year on sportsclothing, footwear & equipmentThere is more of a gender balance when itcomes to spending on sports gear – thoughmen still outspend women ( 265 million vs 185 million). The 25-34 age group are the bigspenders in this category, at nearly 120 millioneach year.Frequency of placing bets on sporting events%7 days a week14-6 times a week22-3 times a week5Once a week7A few times a month5Once a month4Less than once a month24Never51Base: over 18s who bet on sporting events

THE PHILIP LEE SPORT REPORT /// 17Sport BettingNearly half of all adults in Ireland (over the ageof 18) place bets on sporting events, whetherregularly or irregularly – that’s 1.6 million people.As the chart shows, one in seven over 18s(15%) place bets at least once a week or moreoften. However, the greater share of sportsgamblers claim to do so much less often.Some 61% of men bet on sports compared tojust 30% of women. Young people (18-24) areless likely to bet than older age groups, thoughthe next age group up – 25-34s – comprisethe biggest cohort of gamblers. Dubliners aresignificantly more likely to bet on sport (53%)than people living in Munster (46%)./// Gamblers bet 320 millionin Ireland on sporting eventsevery yearBetting and gambling have been transformedin recent years by the emergence of onlinegambling. That, and the emergence ofsmartphones and betting apps, has transformedthe awareness of and interest in betting – andnot just in sports. However, as the chart shows,most people still go to their local bookiesto place their bets, though over half do usewebsites and mobile ap

Data from the Higher Education Authority shows an estimated 2,000 people studying sport at third level in 2013. Sport is hugely important because of the number of people employed in sport whether it is building and maintaining and running gyms, managing sports events or training participants