by Simon Hainsworth, Corporate Sporting Events
When athletes or business people come together for a sporting or corporate event, they’re not just creating opportunities for people inside the stadium or conference hall to win. They’re supporting an entire infrastructure of industries, creating opportunities for new jobs, and bringing money into the local area.
The events industry is at the centre of a network of sectors who benefit from successful sports and corporate occasions – and in turn they provide a much-needed economic boost locally and nationally.
The big names
Overall, the value of the business events industry is estimated to be £61.65 billion, while sports events generate around £39 billion each year in the UK.
While those attending the event may not consider it, there are a whole host of teams who have been involved in the organisation of the occasion, and whose companies will benefit in some way. Included within the extensive list are the construction companies brought in to build stadiums, swimming pools, conference suites and arenas; the hospitality venues who ensure attendees, participants and guests are well fed and rested during the event; the brands who sponsor the event; the logistics teams who get everyone from A to B (and further depending on the scale and length of the event); the transport companies whose planes, trains, taxis and buses are essential. And many, many more.
Wimbledon is considered to be among the most profitable sporting events in the calendar (according to research by Sheffield Hallam University), estimated to boost London’s economy by £200 million, as spectators spend a fortnight in the capital’s borough eating, drinking, buying merchandise and using local hotels.
And a new study recently revealed that the 16 major sporting events hosted in the UK in 2023 collectively generated £373 million, representing a 6:1 return on investment.
Then there are the one-off events, like the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which contributed almost £1.2 billion to the economy, and the £9.9 billion economic benefit generated by the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In the business world, we see the likes of American entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk’s Veecon event selling out the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Of the thousands of attendees in 2022, 83% were visiting the city for the first time, 1,950 were international visitors from more than 70 countries, and guests collectively impacted the economy to the tune of $21 million.
Elsewhere, Singapore is a key destination for business events, hosting the likes of the Global Business Summit which attracts 45,000 delegates and 2,000 speakers from around the world. The country’s event management sector was valued at $33.6 million in 2022 and is expected to reach $89.3 million by 2032 (Apollo Research Reports).
Small but mighty
Of course, while the globally-known events might attract headlines in terms of their economic impact, across the world there are millions of smaller events happening every single day.
Even a small two-day conference of 200 delegates will see nearby hotel rooms booked up, hundreds of drinks being consumed in the town’s bars and pubs, and local taxi or bus services being utilised alongside trains and perhaps even planes for those travelling from further afield. Plus, there may be a local caterer benefiting from providing the event’s food, a local printer tasked with providing promotional materials, a local marketing team advertising the event beforehand, a logistics company ensuring everything goes smoothly, a gifting company providing branded merchandise – and so on.
In the US, research has shown for every dollar spent on face-to-face events, the economy sees an additional $1.60 in benefits – and this situation is replicated elsewhere in the world, too.
When we add together the sheer volume of smaller sporting and business events, and combine them with the ‘big hitters’, it’s clear to see the huge impact that these occasions have on the local and wider economy. They’re not just opportunities for engagement and socialisation – which is part of the reason in-person events have retained their popularity when we could just as easily host every business conference online, and why attendance at sporting events remains high despite the cost-of-living crisis – they’re also vital boosts for the UK economy at a time when it’s really needed.
That’s why all of the industries involved in co-ordinating conferences and sports events need to shout louder than ever about their contribution to the economy; about the importance of Government-wide support for the sector; and about exactly how valuable and necessary events continue to be!
