The second fastest growing sector for brands
By all accounts, the sports industry has enjoyed prolific growth in the last decade. KPMG notes that the entire global sports market including infrastructure, events, training and sports goods, is estimated to be worth between $600-700 billion and its growth outpaces the GDP growth of most countries. Meanwhile, the global sporting goods market, valued at roughly $318 billion by the NPD Group in 2014, has experienced annual sales increases of roughly 4.3% between 2005 and 2014 a rate 1.5 times greater than the broader consumer sector, according to Macquarie Research. And, it is on course to continue growing by up to 5.6% until 2020.
Employment in sport represents more than 1.7 million people in the EU and is steadily raising. In 2018, 1.76 million people worked in the field of sport in the EU. Between 2013 and 2018, employment in sport rose by 3.2 % in terms of annual average growth rate (AAGR), in comparison to 1.4 % observed for total employment. The largest increases in EU Member States average annual growth rates were observed in Greece 17 %, Croatia 16 %, and Latvia 12 %, while only four countries had a negative trend in their AAGR: Austria (-1.4 %), France (-2.9 %), note there is a break in series), Slovakia (-3.6 %) and Romania (-5.2 %).
According to a 2016 report by Forbes, the sports market in North America was worth $60.5 billion in 2014. It was expected to reach $73.5 billion by 2019. The biggest reason for such growth is projected increases in revenue derived from media rights deals, which is predicted to surpass gate revenues as the sports industry's largest segment.
Sports media rights were projected to go from $14.6 billion in 2014 to $20.6 billion by 2019 , accounting for a compound annual rate increase of 7.2% (Forbes). Over 35% of current local television rights deals with the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball were set to expire by 2019, which will contribute to the overall growth in the sector based on assumed lucrative new deals, but national rights deals truly drive the growth in this area.
Employment in sport as a share of total employment
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Compared to total employment, jobs in sport still accounted for relatively small shares but the contribution of sport is steadily growing. Between 2013 and 2018, sport contribution to total employment increased slightly in nearly all Member States and, at EU level, it rose from 0.7 % to 0.8 %. In 2018, employment in sport represented 0.8 % of total EU employment, ranging from 0.1 % in Romania to 1.7 % in Sweden. For the majority of EU Member States, sport employment shares reached 1 % at maximum; in addition to Sweden, only in the United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland and Spain, did this share exceeded 1 %.
Youth empowerment
According to a research by Europa.eu, nearly four in ten workers in sport employment are aged fifteen and twenty-nine. Compared with the age structure of the total employed population, it is noticeable that young people accounted for a relatively significant share in sport employment in 2018, nearly four in ten workers, 38 % in sport in the EU, twice the figure recorded for the total employment (19 %). In all countries for which data are available, the proportion of young people in sport employment outnumbered that in total employment. The difference was particularly significant in Spain, where the percentage of young people employed in sport was 2.7 times higher than the share of young people in total employment, as well as in Italy, 2.5 times higher and in Bulgaria, 2.4. At Member State level, the highest shares of young people employed in sport were observed in Denmark 58 %, Sweden, Netherlands and the United Kingdom 47 % each and Finland 43 %.
Since 2013, the percentage of young people employed in sport has increased by 3 percentage points, from 35 % in 2013 to 38 % in 2018. Among those countries with reliable data for both years, Sweden and the United Kingdom had the largest increase, respectively by 7 and 6 percentage points.
Absorption of Graduates
Over one-third of people employed in sport completed tertiary education according to a study by Europa.eu. Considering the educational background of persons employed in sport in the EU in 2018, 38 % had completed tertiary education. This figure was slightly higher than the share of tertiary graduates in total employment (35 %). In four EU Member States, half or more of those working in sport were tertiary graduates, these countries are Cyprus 76 %, Lithuania 65 %, Greece 57 % and Spain 52 %. In comparison with total employment, Portugal had the highest proportion of tertiary education graduates with a 1.7 ratio, followed by Cyprus 1.6 and Greece and Lithuania 1.5. By contrast, Denmark reported a share of tertiary graduates employed in sport at 20 %, almost half of the proportion observed in total employment 36 %. In an additional eight Member States, the share of tertiary graduates in sport employment was lower than that in total employment
Between 2013 and 2018, the percentage of tertiary education graduates employed in sport rose in the EU as a whole from 33 % in 2013 to 38 % in 2018, as well as in all Member States for which data are sufficiently reliable for both years, except Greece, Lithuania and Germany.
The emerging of lines of business
Sports big data companies - Big data in sports is a real game changer now. Anyone who's remotely attuned to college or professional sports broadcasting is acutely aware that data and statistics play a huge role in the industry. From historical data and fundamental scorekeeping to algorithmic performance forecasting and extremely specific player statistics, big data is the industry’s most valuable player. Football, baseball, basketball, soccer and even fantasy sports all rely on big data to maximize player efficiency and predict future performances. Stats, Krossover, Numberfire, Chyronhengo, Sportsradar, Elias sports bureau, Opta and Trumedia network are some of the examples of large organisations that survive on providing technology products and solutions to coaches and athletes. Chyronhego provides real-time data visualization and broadcast graphics for live television, news and sports coverage provides real-time data visualization and broadcast graphics for live television, news and sports coverage. Opta provides real time sports data for leagues around the world. From football and basketball to cricket and rugby, Opta serves up data to global audiences across apps, websites, news outlets and other sources so they can better understand the performance of their favorite leagues, teams and players.
Sports Betting - the global sports betting sector occupies the major market share in the overall online gambling industry accounting for more than 40 % of the worldwide gambling revenue generation. According to the Technavio’s market analysts, the sports betting market will grow at an impressive AGR, with the global sports betting market revenue expected to reach nearly $370 billion by 2022. The sports betting market size will likely grow by USD 144.44 billion during 2020-2024, and the market’s growth momentum will accelerate during the forecast period. The digital revolution will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, vendors should focus on growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.
Sports broadcasting and sports agencies - A recent report from PwC projects the sports market to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.1% across the four segments, from $69.3 billion in 2017 to $78.5 billion in 2021, and that’s just across North America. The US market generated $22.42 billion in 2019, making it by far the world’s biggest media rights market. It accounts for 44% of the total global sports rights market
Nyasha D Ziwewe is a Business Consultant and Systems developer at Industrial Psychology Consultants. Email: nyasha@ipcconsultants.com. Mobile 0783462251. LinkedIn: Nyasha D Ziwewe.