Sports Infrastructure Research

Sport (site) infrastructure not only contributes to the attractiveness of sport, in many cases it is even an indispensable prerequisite for its practice. It appears in many different forms - not only as a classical gymnasium or competition arena, but also, for example, as a ski lift, golf course or hiking trail. The effect of sports infrastructure consists primarily in spreading and deepening the participation of the population in sports. On the one hand, this increases the number of people who are active in sports, and on the other hand, people who are already active dedicate more time to sports. The practice of sport has positive effects both for individuals and society as a whole. These include reduced health costs (even in an average net view taking into account sports accidents), increased (work) productivity and improved social inclusion.

The construction and operation of sports infrastructure attracts a great deal of media attention, especially when it comes to spectacular projects. However, the majority of projects are small-scale construction investments, for example in the form of public swimming pools in the municipal sector. With fitness centres, dance schools, ski lifts and similar facilities, sports infrastructure can sometimes be operated economically, but in other areas this is not possible, although desirable due to the positive social effects. For this reason, public investment in the construction and maintenance of sports infrastructure is of great importance.

Public investment should be accompanied by an impact analysis in order to ensure a high degree of transparency in the use of the tax resources required for this purpose. The focus here is on the supply and service interdependencies in the advance network of the executing companies. The production values themselves, the value added generated, the employment secured and created and the associated purchasing power are to be analysed and can be compared nationally and internationally. A disclosure of the further, above all the intangible effects on the company is also to be aimed at after a few years of operation.