Job search
Job Search

Thought Leaders

Industry experts share their views on the current issues affecting sport

Published in Sports Management 2012 issue 2

The danger of scrapping the DCMS

John Goodbody
John Goodbody
John Goodbody,

Sports Journalist,

Sunday Times


Reports that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) faces being scrapped after the Olympic Games has sent a shiver through the sporting establishment. After being set up in 1992 and originally called the Department of National Heritage, it was quickly nicknamed ‘The Ministry of Fun’ and ‘the Ministry of Free Tickets.’ However, over the last 20 years, the government department has gained in stature by giving sport a much greater prominence and also playing a key role in deciding that London should bid for the Games and then wholeheartedly supporting the candidature.

The reason for scrapping the Department is, of course, to reduce costs. It has been suggested that its three main components – culture, media and sport – should be hived off to other parts of Whitehall, which is where they were before 1992. With negotiations currently underway for a merger of UK Sport and Sport England, it looks as if we will be back to where we were in the 1980s, when there was a Sports Council, responsible for both England and UK dimensions, and it, in turn, being responsible to a Sports Minister, who, at that stage, was with the Department of the Environment.

Andy Reed, who chairs the Sport and Recreation Alliance, is among those concerned about any dismantling of the DCMS, with sport then moving to join a much bigger department, such as Education, where it was, briefly, before 1992.

He says that in the DCMS, sport enjoys a higher profile than moving to a department “where it was a secondary concern or a tool to achieve a single, specific aim.” He believes that “given its proven effectiveness in contributing to a wide range of public policy objectives – like crime reduction, higher educational attainment and improved social cohesion – shoehorning sport into a department where primacy lies elsewhere would do it, and the nation, a great disservice.”

As sport permeates so many areas of society perhaps it could sit in the Cabinet Office, which has a wide-ranging role?

Reed would reluctantly accept this but says he would prefer for the DCMS to remain as an entity, with sport continuing to be a permanent fixture there. Surely this is right, because returning to where we were in the 1980s is retrogressive. The change since then has worked and been seen to work and should be allowed to continue to work in the future.

John Goodbody has covered 11 successive Olympic Games for the Sunday Times.

@JohnGoodbody

Capitalising on our golden decade of sport

Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson ,

CEO,

Business in Sport and Leisure


The clock is ticking down to the start of Britain’s Golden Decade of Sport, with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games first on the calendar of major events. And it’s to my personal sorrow that as COO of England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup that we weren’t able to add that prized tournament to the list of blue riband sporting events taking place on these shores.

As the new CEO of Business In Sport and Leisure (BISL), I recognise that our members have a large impact on whether the objectives of hosting these major events are met.

The first area is economic benefit and inward investment. Every time a bid is made to host an event, an Economic Impact Assessment is made by an independent body. These invariably forecast a huge fillip to the country’s GDP and justifies the government in supporting the event with guarantees, tax breaks and underwrites of cost.

Forty per cent of that economic benefit is assumed to come from visitor spend. And where will this money be spent? The answer is in bars, pubs, clubs, casinos, restaurants, hotels and visitor attractions. A thriving leisure industry is therefore the key to us deriving the economic benefit from hosting these events.

But if the fiscal and regulatory regime continues to over-regulate this sector, to burden it with unfair taxes and disproportionate costs, not only will the industry not grow, but businesses will close. So, if visitors can’t find opportunities to spend their money when they visit the UK to watch the 2013 Rugby World Cup, it means we risk squandering the economic reason for bidding for this event in the first place.

The second area linked to event hosting is sports development legacy.

The government wants to encourage more people to be more active and these events are expected to provide the motivation to take up sport. However, playing fields and leisure centres are disappearing or falling into disrepair due to public sector cuts. The government needs the private sector to step in to offer high-quality facilities and our members are keen to do so, but we need help to make procurement quicker and cheaper, to make planning more responsive to leisure needs and a system which rewards energy reduction and offers easier ways to raise capital.

To prevent the Golden Decade of Sport falling flat, the government needs to allow the sports and leisure industry to grow.

[email protected]

A need for increased NGB/FIA collaboration

David Stalker
David Stalker
David Stalker,

CEO,

Fitness Industry Association


As part of our Memorandum of Understanding with Sport England, the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) has pledged to work with more national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) to get more people, more active, more often.

Eleven of the top 20 sports (in relation to participation levels, as detailed in Sport England’s Active People Surveys) can take place within a health club or leisure centre.

Operators of those facilities currently see more than one million people, every day of the week. They have the capacity to see a million more. Eighty-nine per cent of the country’s population lives within two miles of these facilities, which have seen a year-on-year increase in usage for the past 20 years.

So as the trade body for health and fitness, the FIA is committed to working with NGBs and NGBs must, in turn, work with the FIA to achieve our overall objectives to increase participation levels.

The FIA have more than 3,000 facility operating members, who proactively contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of the nation. We want to get the most out of every activity and get more consumers doing physical activity, whether that is participating in a sport such as swimming at a leisure centre, or running on a treadmill within a health club environment or at a bootcamp session outside – there are many opportunities to find a sport of their choice.

The FIA has numerous partnership programmes, such as Asda Active and Shift into Sports, and we want to provide NGBs with the opportunity to be involved in these.

We want to discover how we can help to promote established NGB programmes through our operator members and exponentially grow participation rates.

We will also strive to support NGBs to develop their understanding of the health agenda and support their evidence base for sport and physical activity through The FIA Research Institute at the University of Greenwich.

In the essence of partnership working, and the opportunity to learn first-hand about the FIA and find out some of the ways that we could work together, the FIA is offering all Sport England-recognised NGBs an FIA member rate to attend our fourth annual Flame Conference and Ball of Fire, held at the Magna Centre in Sheffield on the 27th June.

@DavidStalker

Sign up for FREE ezines

Company profile

Company profile: We Work Well Inc
We Work Well is a global premier hosted buyer event company, connecting high-level executives from leading suppliers with pre-selected highly qualified buyers in the wellness and hospitality industries, through scheduled one-on-one meetings, networking activities, community, and purpose.
View full profile >
More company profiles

Featured Supplier

Panatta to showcase innovation at major fitness and bodybuilding events in 2024
Panatta will consolidate its global presence throughout 2024 by attending a host of major industry events around the globe.
View full details >
More featured suppliers

Property & Tenders

Location: Loughton, IG10
Company: Knight Frank
Location: Grantham, Leicestershire
Company: Belvoir Castle
Location: Verwood, Dorset
Company: AVISON YOUNG
Location: Hall Place House, Bexley, DA5 1PQ
Company: London Borough of Bexley
Location: 15 Concessions across the nation's forests
Company: Forestry England
More properties & tenders

Diary dates

11-14 Apr 2024
Exhibition Centre , Cologne, Germany
22-24 Apr 2024
Galgorm Resort, York
10-12 May 2024
China Import & Export Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China
23-24 May 2024
Large Hall of the Chamber of Commerce (Erbprinzenpalais), Wiesbaden, Germany
More diary dates