Live Sport To Bring £11.8bn To UK Economy In 2019
Attendances at sport events in the UK will hit 75.1m in 2019, bringing a record £11.8bn into the country’s economy, according to sports marketing agency Two Circles.
The data-driven agency has published a wide-ranging report into the total attendance for professional UK sporting events, comparing it with stats from other nations, and has shown that the UK is the only country whose sporting attendance is greater than its population (67.5m).
Australia, the United States of America and Ireland follow in second to fourth place respectively.
The findings come as a year of major events hit the UK, with the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Netball World Cup and golf’s Solheim Cup hit British shores in 2019. But Two Circles says that even excluding those major events, the total attendance this year will hit 74m, which means UK sport attendances have grown at an average year-on-year rate of 3.4% since 2013.
The agency’s data comes from its own Two Circles Ticketing and Hospitality Engines.
Gareth Balch, CEO, Two Circles, said: “Sport has long been in the UK’s DNA, and in addition to the UK’s domestic competitions growing their live fanbases, new events such as regular-season NFL and MLB games in London are being added to the calendar. The UK has also shown to be a dependable destination for international federations looking to deliver both amazing atmospheres and commercially-successful competitions.
“Critically, the UK’s attendance growth also demonstrates the impact of a primary ticket sales market. The future growth of sport will centre around direct relationships with fans, and for a rights-owner’s event-day business that means being able to market tickets and hospitality directly to fans rather than through secondary channels – a culture that is inhibiting growth for sports in other countries.”
The agency says that football is the main driver of UK sporting attendances, with 50.5m (67.2% of the overall number) coming from that sport. Horse racing is the UK’s second sport according to the data pushing rugby union into third place, though Two Circles says that rugby union attendances have dropped in 2019 due to changes to the calendar made to accommodate the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
