Poll Result: Athletics In Biggest Decline

An exclusive poll of Sportindustry.biz readers has revealed that the commercial
appeal of athletics – the Olympics’ flagship sport – has declined the most of
any sport in the last 12 months.

The poll, which surveyed Sportindustry.biz readers on which sport they
believed had been affected the most in terms of a downturn in its commercial
appeal during 2006, saw athletics come out on top with 52.4% of the vote.

Poor performances on the track and the continuation of drug scandals both hit
the sport hard in 2006. The result will not be welcome news for London 2012
organisers, giving them an indication of the size of the task facing them in
terms of garnering commercial support for the Games.

The result may still have come as something of a surprise to many given the
on the pitch woes of the national rugby union and cricket teams with those
sports garnering 28.6% and 11.9% of the vote in second and third spot
respectively.

Football took the remaining 7.1% of the poll due showing that the sporting
powerhouse’s commercial performance is not seen to be adversely affected despite
poor England team results and the player transfer bung scandal hitting the
headlines in 2006.