- Report Says Focus On Women’s Sport Key For Unlocking Sports Sector Growth In The North West
The size of Greater Manchester and Liverpool’s sports economies reduced in size by a combined £177m during Covid but a focus on boosting women’s professional sport can help support future growth, says a new report.
The joint ‘Competing for Growth’ report by law firm Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), has been produced to highlight the vital role of the sports economy in UK and how further growth can be unlocked.
The latest figures for Greater Manchester show that sport related GVA fell from £758.8m in 2019 to £620.4m in 2020. Employment levels during the same period reduced by 2.1% from 20,055 to 19,625.
Liverpool has a similar story with 2019’s GVA of £192m falling by £39m in 2020. Sport sector related employment saw modest 1.0% growth on previous year’s figures.
Stockport and Warrington were both included in the report as they are in the top 48 for the UK’s largest sports economies. Stockport saw a large percentage fall compared to its larger neighbours with GVA reducing from £49.9m to £33.9m. Employment levels in the town fell from 1,325 to 1,185, which equated to a 10.6% fall year-on-year. Warrington saw GVA reduce from £42.2m in 2019 to £32m in 2020. Employment levels during the same period contracted by 8.1%.
To unlock the potential of the UK’s sports economy the report makes three recommendations to Government in the following three areas:
Women’s Sport – Unlock funding to support the further growth of women’s professional sport including Women’s Super League
Climate change – Provide funding and guidelines for green objectives for sports clubs
Financial sustainability – Legislate for a new independent regulator for English Football
Tom Barnard, partner and National Head of Irwin Mitchell’s Sports sector team, said:
“Sports make a substantial contribution to the economies of cities in the North West. The sports sector promotes expenditure and employment, with total GVA in 2020 estimated at over £750m in Greater Manchester and Liverpool, while sports activities are also linked to higher productivity and wellbeing, further boosting the UK economy.
“This report highlights the strength and huge opportunities that exist within the sports sector but at the same time it reveals how vulnerable local economies can be to periods of economic turbulence.
“Despite Manchester being home to one of the UK’s largest sports economies and Liverpool having the fifth largest sports GVA as a share of a city’s economy, the North West was not immune to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its associated lockdowns.”
Commenting on the report’s recommendations, Tom added: “There are some interesting themes emerging in the report’s recommendations. Support and funding from the Government could accelerate and unlock the full economic potential of the WSL, as highlighted by the success of EURO 2022, and help RFU meet its ambitious objectives. Any scheme that promotes greater participation and viewership will boost economic activity both through higher match-day activity and longer-term productivity, culminating in a strong net benefit for regional economies across the UK.”
Irwin Mitchell’s sport sector team advises individual athletes; sports clubs; leisure groups; national and international governing bodies and sports agencies. Its team of experts advise on a diverse range of issues including tax and image rights structures; dispute resolution and disciplinary action; commercial transactions; property; IP and employment law. Irwin Mitchell is the official legal partner of England Rugby; UK Athletics; and British Rowing.
