Politics On The Agenda At Sport Industry Late Lunch

Sport and politics was firmly on the agenda when a group of senior industry leaders met with key political influencers to discuss the link between the two at the Sport Industry Late Lunch, presented by TVC Sport, part of The Economist Group.

The gathering came ahead of an announcement by UK sports minister Tracey Crouch on Tuesday, who launched a public consultation on sport in the UK amid growing concerns that the country is falling short on the legacy commitments of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

A recent study from Sport England revealed almost 250,000 people had stopped their regular physical activity over the past six months, and Crouch recently criticised the country’s sports strategy.

At the Sport Industry Late Lunch, presented by TVC Sport, former Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Sir Hugh Robertson, Damian Collins MP and Tim Kiddell, speechwriter to David Cameron, joined sport leaders from major brands, rights holders and agencies at the table.

Watch the video at Sport Industry TV

The discussion got underway with an opening address from Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist.

Franklin commented on how sport, with its global media appeal, permeates across politics, health and culture. “Nothing can exist without the other, interconnections are absolutely crucial,” he added.

Three particular areas highlighted by Franklin were government policy, technology and the role of the private sector. “Government can’t help but be involved in sport; with major sporting events, facilities, local authorities and schools,” said Franklin. “The question is, is government doing a good enough job?”

Franklin challenged the effect that technology was having on sport: “It is driving so much of the way sport is played and consumed these days. It’s exciting but can it be a barrier for participation? Is the excitement of sport so good via technology, it is stopping people actually getting up and doing it?”

Finally, Franklin recognised the huge impact that the private sector could have on sport but asked “is enough imagination going into this process to leverage this impact? Are there more imaginative ways for private sector to work with government?”

This kicked off a lively debate between the guests at the invitation-only event, as they immediately sought to answer why government wasn’t more heavily involved with sport. There was general agreement that the government had perhaps focussed on the wrong aspects of sport, particularly concerning participation levels, and that technology could help improve this.

Sir Hugh Robertson commented: “The biggest increases of people playing sports are not those signing up to clubs, they are doing it behind the scenes, on an individual level. We haven’t managed to engage with them as we concentrated far too long in trying to get people signed up to clubs.”

Technology was proposed as a growing means to further drive this participation with many stating that sport participants, especially those of a younger age, would be inspired by the achievements of their peers. Achievements that could and often are shared via social media and sport specific performance tracking and sharing platforms.

The failure to convert long term corporate support from the private sector following the Olympics was highlighted as a missed opportunity, though this was balanced with the difficulty of maintaining consumer interest and therefore also sponsorship throughout the four year cycle of the Games.

Sports participation among those on the lowest income bands is at its lowest point since records began in 2005-06, according to Sport England. Overall, however, 1.4 million more people are participating than when the bid to stage London 2012 was won in 2005.

Damian Collins MP touched on the role of the government at a global level, explaining: “Governments have a duty to stand up for the integrity of global sport when sports governing bodies fail to tackle corruption. Allegations of bribery and corruption are criminal matters as well as challenges for sports integrity.”

When the discussion moved to the role of sport itself to ensure an ethical approach Collins felt that most impact could be had at a more local level.

“Community sport is the glue that holds it altogether. It’s not about school sport it’s about how you link schools, clubs and give it structure,” added Collins.

Sir Hugh Robertson acknowledged the difficulty in assessing how best to oversee sport and its role in society saying: “The holy grail of sports policy is to incorporate sport into wider government policy so that health, education, local government and a range of other government departments work seamlessly together. In common with other countries, we are not yet structured to do this.”

Ben Barker, head of sport at TVC, commented: “Often we look at our sponsorships and what they’re doing for our companies, but a body that shares input and adds value to collectively could be of real worth. There’s a lot of goodwill to support participation in sport, but no real body. We need to ensure the participation dip after the Olympics is just that – a dip. “

“This is just the start of the conversation and we will continue to work on ways of connecting government, corporate brands and the community.”

Nick Keller, chairman of Sport Industry Group, further emphasised the need for a closer link between the sport industry and Westminster and as a result of these discussions Damian Collins MP will be helping ensure this link through regular meetings and ideas being exchanged via Sport Industry Group. Furthermore, Collins will be joining the Judging Panel for the BT Sport Industry Awards 2016.