The sports industry takes its bearings

The sports economy is riding on the wave of new societal expectations

In recent years, the practice of sporting activities has enjoyed steady growth in France. 
According to the Sport & Health barometer survey carried out in 2017, 61% of French people say they engage in regular physical activity, i.e. a rise of seven percentage points vs. 2012. This increase can be explained, in part, by a change in the profile of those practicing sport (more women and senior citizens) and by the emergence of new habits. Indeed, in recent years, the individualization of sporting activities has gone hand-in-hand with the appearance of new motivations linked to health, relaxation, and conviviality. These developments explain the rise of sport “on-demand” (offered by private commercial service providers) but also the increase in independent practice (free of all supervision structures), which now represents the most frequent form of physical exercise.

However, it is through associations that sport has traditionally been organized. Today, these sports associations must adapt to the gradual yet far-reaching metamorphosis in the profile of people practicing sport. As they depend on access to public facilities that have to be shared, associations are finding it more difficult to gain in flexibility, unlike their private competitors, who are making strong progress notably in large urban areas and tourist destinations. Their ability to respond to these developments is, however, crucial to the extent that associations play a key role in teaching sport and in the preservation of the values associated with it.    

The sports economy: an industry in its own right 

The sports sector, which brings together two types of players – associations, of which there exist around 360,000, and companies numbering 112,000 – is a highly integrated economic branch, serving demand for sports activities. 

The sector’s main areas of activity are as follows: 
•    The first two groups bring together the players responsible for ensuring access to sport: the structures giving a framework to sporting activities (gymnasiums, associations, coaching, etc.) and players in charge of sport’s ‘spectacle’ dimension (major international sports events, professional sport, etc.). 
•    Upstream of the actual practice of sport, there exist two different realms. The first is essentially the commercial sector: the manufacture and distribution of sporting goods. The second realm brings together the supporters of a supervised practice requiring specific infrastructures: this includes the production of both public and private sports facilities and their management. 
•    Downstream, there exists a market geared to satisfying needs: the needs of other players in a B2B relationship (advice, communications) and needs of consumers in a B2C relationship (specialized media).

Varying dynamics according to the business sectors of the different sports companies

The market – in the throes of fundamental change and characterized by significant differences in performance – is currently torn between, on the one hand, concentration around very large players, as is the case for gymnasiums, the distribution or manufacture of sports items and, on the other hand, fragmentation with the large-scale entry of very small companies and one-person businesses, as is the case for sports education or the rental of sports equipment. This dichotomy can be explained through a more detailed sectoral analysis. 
Long-established sectors, such as trade and industry, are relatively stable and undergoing slow changes, although new factors (increasing international competition or the development of e-commerce) are likely to upset their equilibrium. On the other hand, activities giving a framework to the practice of sport are currently undergoing major changes related to the significant increase in demand with the arrival a large number of new entrants every year.

Sport, a lever for revitalizing the local and regional economy

For demographic, geographical, economic or socio-cultural reasons, the presence of sports companies is unevenly spread across France, both in terms of the number of companies as well as their economic impact and the diversity of sectors represented. The relatively classic rationale of geographical presence corresponds to the traditional location of companies in France with a strong concentration around large urban areas. The head offices of the major sports companies are chiefly located in the Paris region, but also in the North with the Decathlon brand: between them, the three départements of Paris, Hauts-de-Seine and the Nord account for more than 20% of sports companies’ aggregate workforce. This “head office” effect further increases the regional concentration of the sales generated by these large companies despite the fact that the wealth they produce is derived from the activities of their entities scattered throughout the country.

Innovation and the sports economy: a winning duo

Ultimately, we note above all that activities pursued by specialized services and those dependent on consumer proximity are the ones located in densely populated areas. Industrial activities such as manufacturing, equipment rentals or sports tourism reflect other rationales governing the choice of a geographical location, that are often historical and geographical in nature, related to the physical advantages of the different regions. These activities are more concentrated around specialized hubs, sometimes operating in clusters, either with a view to consolidating existing sectors or to developing synergies with other industries. Indeed, in the field of sport, there exists a large number of clusters and incubators: nearly thirty in all, half of which are focused on innovation (Sport Tech, health) and the other half oriented towards more traditional sectors in which France boasts real expertise (horse riding, water sports, etc.). What is striking in this area is less the number of clusters but more their growth in recent years: since 2015, seventeen new clusters and incubators have been created, including four in 2019. This increase reflects an awareness of the potential of the sports economy.

Strong territorial disparities in access to sporting activities

The départements in metropolitan France are characterized by five different profiles, depending on the service offering available. 
•    The Alpine départements, “Champions” in terms of access to sports activities, combine an abundant private and associative service offering thanks to major geographical advantages and good economic and demographic dynamics. 
•    In the départements of regional urban areas, the “Autonomous” areas are chiefly served by a private service offering providing the flexibility they require. 
•    Some territories, the “Associative” départements, rely on an offering provided by associations and the strong involvement of the public authorities to maintain local sports activities. 
•    The “Discoverer” départements benefit from geographical characteristics favorable to the development of sports tourism, served by a private service offering, while the maintenance of a network of associations accompanies the practice of sporting activities. 
•    Finally, in 19 départements – “the Laggards” – the practice of sporting activities is in marked decline: they suffer at the same time from a lower density of sports facilities and associations and are rather fragile economically, attracting little offering from the private sector.

Consult here all studies published by BPCE's experts on the sports economy:

• Local & regional authorities and sports - BPCE L'Obervatoire, March 2022
• The sports industry on tenterhooks - BPCE L'Observatoire notebooks, February 2021
• The sports economy faced with the health crisis, BPCE L'Observatoire, June 2020