Fragment

The sports world consists of a complex network of people and organizations involved in various sports activities. The organizational connections within which sports practices take place vary widely. Competitive athletes are mostly active within associations. In turn, sports associations are part of overarching (inter)national federations or federations. Non-competitive sports are linked to a system of commercial fitness and wellness providers, private leisure sports companies, or public sports facilities, such as public playgrounds, and physical education in schools.

Sports providers can therefore focus on sports enthusiasts (athletes, fans, spectators) who are united in traditional, often close-knit social networks (clubs, federations) or in modern, often loosely organized settings (playgrounds, ski slopes, leisure areas). Those who want to play sports today can choose from a rich variety of options. The possibilities for sports, long provided mainly by sports clubs and federations in our world, have now expanded considerably.

Associations are still the foundation of a (inter)national system of (voluntary) sports organizations. In Europe, more than half a million sports clubs are active in organizing what the association was founded for. The associations, federations, and federations have traditionally fulfilled the core functions in the field of (competitive) sports, namely:
- establishing and maintaining sports facilities;
- organizing competitions, tournaments, and leagues;
- providing training, instruction, and coaching for athletes;
- assembling, classifying, and guiding sports teams;
- regulating and arbitrating sports competitions.

Voluntarily managed sports providers have long lost their monopoly on the sports and exercise market. Commercialization and corporatization are increasingly conquering the regular sports world. Almost all original functions of traditionally organized sports have been commercialized to a greater or lesser extent. Ice rinks, riding schools, sailing schools, and swimming pools have always offered the opportunity to engage in sports and leisure outside of club sports. The organizational landscape of sports providers has been enriched in recent decades with tennis and squash halls, fitness companies, and indoor facilities for climbing or skiing.

The public sports offerings of municipalities have also grown enormously. Neighborhood sports, broad school activities, playgrounds, and multifunctional sports parks provide informal sports practitioners with plenty of opportunities to engage in sports outside of federations and clubs. Government involvement has led to sports being increasingly used as a means to achieve political objectives. Besides commercial influences, political forces have also profoundly changed the original landscape of (traditional) sports organizations, with all the associated advantages and disadvantages.

The increasing involvement of businesses and the government in the sport and leisure sector had far-reaching consequences. In addition to the traditional work of voluntary leaders, new employment opportunities emerged for entrepreneurs, policy advisors, and managers who understood the workings of the sports field. Paid professionals who saw the business functioning of sports providers as their business domain. As a result, a new professional domain of sports-specific and/or business-trained sports professionals developed, nowadays even referred to as sports scientists. These professionals increasingly find employment in all segments of the growing market of sports and exercise.

For a long time, voluntary sports associations, often with the help of public funds and government contributions, have successfully fulfilled their core functions in the field of competitive sports in Europe. The club life that accompanies this is also of great value for social cohesion among members, volunteers, donors, and supporters. Apart from organizing and facilitating training and/or competitions, perhaps one of the most important management tasks is to ensure the continuity of the sports association. This task becomes more challenging as an increasing number of stakeholders impose various quality requirements. Thus, the external pressure on traditional sports associations is continuously growing. Local governments impose increasingly stringent conditions for granting subsidies and, in return, expect sports clubs to contribute to government policy objectives (such as social integration, preventive healthcare, etc.). Other external stakeholders (sponsors, schools, childcare providers, local residents) are also raising their demands on the operation of the associations. Without effective stakeholder management, the existence of the association can quickly be put at risk. To maintain and deliver high-quality, stable services, a more business-like organizational structure is needed. The governance model—ranging from a board that does everything itself to one that merely creates the conditions for executing members—and the organizational structure must be adapted accordingly.

In the near future, forms of professionalization will also become inevitable for amateur associations. This will certainly be the case for larger sports associations (with 1000 members or more). Hiring professional expertise is usually initially a matter of money. Only if the financial aspects make it possible (increased revenue, more income through subsidies and/or sponsorships, or new sources like the rise of the gambling industry and broadcasting rights for local matches on TV/internet) can greater use of paid staff be realistic. In all other cases, further professionalization—without additional costs—must be shaped and implemented from within the sports association's own membership or network. It is important to consider the continuity of the amateur association, the fulfillment of core functions, and the impact on self-organization and volunteer involvement.

Like any social organization, the sports club of tomorrow operates in at least two markets. The demand-driven market of members or customers who pay for services provided and the 'market' that provides funds. This latter market -finding new funding sources from governments, funds, businesses, citizens, and social enterprises- is often still uncharted territory for many medium-sized and small associations. Increasing attention and expertise in this area within professional practice is an important specific management issue.

Facilitating sport and leisure has long been a focus area within the collective sector, at local, provincial, national and even European policy levels. A long-term trend observed here is the decentralization of tasks and authorities from the national government to municipalities. Whereas previously subsidies were provided from a ministry to local institutions, today municipalities play also a crucial role in allocating funds. At all policy levels, sport is used as an integral tool. The economic and social returns are often central. For example, in the context of city marketing, sport is positioned as a promotional tool. Sport can be used as a bonding agent to support livability and social cohesion in (vulnerable) neighborhoods. For example operational policymakers try to coordinate the sports services provided by schools, clubs, and welfare institutions. This has led to the creation of local collaboration between parties from the neighborhood, education, and sports. This collaboration emphasizes that sport and physical activity can contribute to achieving goals in the areas of public health and social affairs. Thus, municipalities can address the physical activity lag of young people through after-school (sports) activities.

At a more central policy level, the government can support the elite sports climate. This includes facilitating top sports events such as the European Championship soccer, supporting talent coaches, and stimulating the development of new technologies.

Facilitating sports facilities is also an important task of the government. Relatively, most government money goes to these facilities. This means that funds/budgets are allocated to realize these facilities. This involves agreements and consequences. Additionally, the fact that the government works with collective funds means that taxpayers demand a certain degree of transparency regarding how their tax money is spent. The issues of importance in this context are addressed later in this book.
With the rise of relatively new sports and activities such as outdoor activities, padel, free running, e-sports, a wide variety of fitness forms, various new combinations of old sports (bike polo, soccer-farm golf, underwater hockey, etc.), and combinations of sports with other domains (sports and tourism, sports and health, sports and technology, sports and energy, etc.), many businesses have emerged trying to make a living in the sports and leisure sector. It appears that 'sport sells.' Profit maximization is often central, and customer-driven principles from commercial services are flexibly applied to new demand patterns in the sports and leisure sector. Many types of businesses are emerging, sometimes as sole proprietorships, sometimes with multiple people. Creativity abounds, leading to various innovations, sometimes product innovations, other times target group innovations, and occasionally new combinations related to services and products that have nothing to do with sports. Whether all these initiatives will have and maintain a structural character is sometimes questionable. The importance of thoroughly thinking through various plans and the financial consequences is often overlooked. Often, choices have to be made: do I invest in one thing or another? ×