Impact of Sports Events: A Motivation Factor for UK Fitness Sector

This report investigates the impact of international sports events on the UK's fitness industry, exploring whether these events act as a motivational factor for increased participation in fitness activities. The research highlights a gap in existing literature, noting that while factors like celebrity fitness regimes and social media programs are recognized, the influence of international sports events is less explored. The study examines the growth of the UK fitness market, driven by motivational factors, and analyzes how international sports events boost gym memberships, sports equipment sales, and the consumption of fitness supplements. It also discusses the role of national team performance in inspiring public engagement and investor confidence, while acknowledging potential threats like poor team performance. The report uses existing research papers, market reports, and industrial data to provide a comprehensive overview of the fitness industry's response to international sports events in the UK.

Motivation to the Fitness Industry of
UK
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Table of Contents
Part – A......................................................................................................................................3
Part – B.......................................................................................................................................5
Overview of the fitness facilities in the United Kingdom..........................................................5
Increased sales of the sports equipment, sports uniforms along with sports shoes....................8
Food supplements in the Fitness industry of the UK...............................................................10
Reference list............................................................................................................................13
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Part – A
The research question is synthesized in order to address the research problem of this
assignment. The research question in this context is mentioned below:
Investigate if international sports events acts as a motivation factor for the fitness industry in
the UK
The purpose of this assignment is to discuss that whether the international sports events
impacts the industry (fitness) of the United Kingdom. After analysing various research papers
and literature, a gap has been observed. It could be said that the fitness industry of the United
Kingdom has many motivational factors impacting it, including celebrity fitness regime and
social media fitness programmes but the international sports events also impact the fitness
industry of United Kingdom. The assignment aims to serve this literature gap that how the
international sports events acts as the motivational factor to the health and fitness segment of
the United Kingdom.
The rationale of the research is thoroughly discussed in this section which states the reasons
for conducting the particular research. The sectorial (fitness) market size in the United
Kingdom has been expanding continuously and by the end of 2019 it is expected to reach 23
billion pounds. The fitness and sports activities have become an industry in the United
Kingdom which contributes to the economy of the United Kingdom with 5.7 billion USD in
the terms of total earnings. The benefits of the physical activities are clear to the general
public of the United Kingdom but the lack of the physical activities leads to the significant
health issues. There are motivational factors that are utilized by the fitness sector of the
United Kingdom like sharing videos in social media, sharing the fitness regimes of the
celebrities and many more. Though these motivational factors worked well and as a result of
that there is an effective sectorial development but the international sports events motivates
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the public of the United Kingdom to enrol them in the physical activities and it is evident that
during these events, the sales margin of the fitness industry enhances.
In short, it can be said that over the years the definition of fitness has changed. Traditionally,
the motivation for fitness was maintenance of a good physique in order to have a healthy
lifestyle but as time flared, the motivation for fitness has become event oriented. The research
will discuss this emerging motivational factor of the fitness industry. The research will be
interesting because it will explain how the traditional motivation factors that impacted the
UK fitness industry has transformed into an event oriented motivational factors. The research
method of this assignment will be the pure research that is various literatures will be studied
in order to critically analyse how international sports events impact the fitness industry of the
United Kingdom which will shed light to the practical relevance of the issue along with the
creative insight. However the research methods that are to be followed in this particular
research includes the following:
1. Gathering information from the existing research papers and literatures.
2. Accumulating factual data from the market report and the industrial report of the UK
Fitness industry.
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Part – B
Overview of the fitness facilities in the United Kingdom
As per the industrial report of the UK fitness industry, 2018 the fitness industry includes the
gyms along with the fitness and health clubs wherein the revenue is mainly generated at the
time of international sports events through membership fees. The statistics of the industry
reveals that the annual revenue earned by the sector in the financial year of 2018 was £ 1.9
billion with an estimated annual growth of more five percent. The threat to the industry as
revealed by the report is the intensified competition and the opportunities of the industry is
the increased sports vents because this is considered as a motivational factor towards
“Fitspiration” which inspire people to remain fit and fight with obesity (IBISWorld, 2018).
The industrial report of the UK fitness industry sheds light on the fact that at the end of the
financial year of 2017-2018 the fitness facilities increased by 4.6 percent but the growth rate
was considerably lower in the year of 2017. In other words it can be said as that in the year of
2018 there were international sports events like Hockey World Cup, FIFA World Cup,
Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and many more which motivated the individuals to
remain fit as they desire their favourite sports person. This has increased the membership in
the fitness clubs and gyms. The state report of the UK fitness industry, 2019 revealed some
facts like (Quesnel, 2019):
 The membership in the fitness industry grew by 2 percent that is to 9.9 billion.
 The fitness facilities in the year of 2019 in the UK increased to more than seven
thousand from six thousand.
 The market value of the fitness industry of the UK increased to £ 4.9 billion that in
other words it can be said that it enhanced by 2.9 percent.
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 The penetration rate in the UK remained the same in the year of 2019 as it was in the
year of 2018.
 Several new fitness facilities opened up in last few years.
Figure 1: Overview of the fitness segment of the United Kingdom
Source: Quesnel, 2019
The international sports events impact the industry of fitness in the United Kingdom because
it acts as a motivational factor which motivates individuals for further enrolment in the fitness
clubs and gyms. However it is evident that during the international sports events like FIFA
World cup 2018 UK performed well and hence the young people of the UK admire their
sportsperson and enrol them in the fitness activities which is added as a revenue to the
industry (Bernal et al., 2014). Apart from that when the national team of the UK is
performing well at an international level the fitness industry attracts more investors. In short
it can be said that the investors during the international sports events invest more in this
particular industry of the UK on order to grab the opportunity of the increased rate of return
from the investment (Hall and Pesenti, 2017). The fitness industry report of the UK, 2018
revealed that there is increased number of fitness facilities along with the increased numbers
of members which indicates that the international sports events not only motivates the
individuals but along with that also motivates the investors to invest more in the industry and
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hence it increase the employment opportunity in the industry. The fitness trainers are more
employed by the gyms and fitness clubs apart from that the trainers provides freelancing
training services to the fitness freaks who are motivated from the international sports events
like Hockey World cup 2018, FIFA World Cup 2018 and many more (Solheim et al., 2017).
However as opined by scholars, the international sports events have impact on the individuals
but they are more attracted towards the good physique of the sports person and this is what
motivates them to enrol in a fitness program (Macintosh and Doherty, 2007). This is
considered as an indirect impact of international sports event. This is often seen that the poor
performance of the national team on the international events demotivates the individuals and
hence they discontinue with the fitness facilities which is considered as a threat to this
particular industry(Polyakova and Mirza, 2016).
Figure 2: Increased membership in the fitness industry
Source: Quesnel, 2019
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Increased sales of the sports equipment, sports uniforms along with sports shoes
The industrial report (fitness) of the United Kingdom, 2018 revealed the growth of the
industry in this particular year. There were list of international sports events in this particular
year ranging from FIFA world cup, Hockey World Cup to Commonwealth Games and
Winter Olympic Games wherein the sport persons of the UK are actively involved. On an
international level the performance of the team motivates the individuals of the UK which
can be reflected on the sales margin of the sports equipment, uniforms and shoes.
The operators or the retailers of the sports equipment market of the United Kingdom includes
the sale of products for outdoor activities, sporting goods, bicycles and clothing. The sports
items or equipment that are stocked by these operators are considered as the discretionary
products or items. The improvement of the economic condition along with the increased
numbers of sports events including international events and the enhanced disposable
household income supported the growth of the market in last five years in the terms of
revenue. However in the year of 2017 the growth of this market slowed down due to the weak
disposable income and lessened international sports events (Shank and Lyberger, 2014).
Again the growth accelerated in the year of 2018 due to the involvement of the nation in the
international sports events and indeed due to the performance of the national team. The
anticipated growth rate in the year of 2019 is 6.2 percent which would reach to euro nine
billion due to the most awaited international sports events of Cricket World Cup. The
opportunity to the industry is enhanced due to the international sports event of 2019 that is
Cricket World Cup and the threats to the sports equipment market of the UK is from the
external competitors (Ibisworld.co.uk, 2019). As opined by a critique, the increase in the
sales of the sports equipment are due to the celebrity endorsements of the brands
(Timchenko, Kaisheva and Timchenko, 2017). In other words it can be said that more than
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the international sports events the individuals are motivated by the celebrities or the sports
person and hence the sport equipment brands that are endorsed by them tends to have more
sales rather than those brands that are not endorsed by the sports persons (Andreasson and
Johansson, 2014).
The market report of the UK sportswear reveals that the market is estimated to grow by
twenty percent in next five years and hence will reach £6.7 billion because the customers
desire to wear the sportswear as the casual wear due to the increased international sports
events (Globaldata.com, 2019). This market includes sports footwear as well. The report also
revealed a fact that in the individuals are more motivated to purchase the sports footwear
because their favourite sports person endorse the brand. However it is evident that the growth
of the revenue in the market of sports equipment and uniform and shoes are due to the
international sports events because through this purchase the individuals encourage their
teams to perform well on the international level. Henceforth, it can be said that the fitness
industry is motivated from the international sports event (Giulianotti and Numerato, 2018).
Figure 3: The growth in the sports footwear in the UK
Source: Globaldata.com, 2019
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Food supplements in the Fitness industry
Fitness and nutrition supplements are considered as a market leader in this particular industry
of the UK for a longer period of time and hence the increased level of sales during the
international sports events motivates the fitness industry of the UK. According to the sales
report of this sector 2018, this segment of fitness industry held 65 per cent share in terms of
revenue of the UK fitness industry. The ready to drink fitness and nutrition supplements are
considered as the growing segment in the market of supplements as this had contributed 18
per cent to the revenue of this market in the year of 2018. According to noted scholars, it is
evident that the athletes during the sports events includes nutritional and dietary supplements
as a part of their fitness regime that is 85 percent of the elite athletes including field athletes
prefers food supplements (Solheim et al., 2017). For athletes several food intakes are
restricted that is in other words it can be said that these supplements provides supports to the
athletic activities by supporting the sports person with vitamins, minerals, proteins and
carbohydrates.
However the sales report of the food supplement segment of the UK states that during the
international sports events the sales margin in this sector are doubled due to the increased
usage of the supplements by the athletes and the individuals also consume these supplements
following their favourite sports person. The athlete and sports person who are performing at
an international level chooses their foods very effectively because it will affect their
performance and hence will have through impact on the health and fitness. The good choice
of the food and nutrition supplements will motivate an athlete to perform well and therefore
the food supplements have a through impact on the performance of the athletes.
Several studies revealed that the in some circumstances the food supplements are impactful
for some athletes for whom the energy intake is restricted (Maughan, Depiesse and Geyer,
2007). The anti -doping and medical commission of IAAF conducted a survey at an
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international event of International Championships from 2005 to 2007 in order to undermine
the reasons of using the food supplements by the sportsperson especially at an international
sports events. The study revealed that 71 percent of the respondents use supplements because
it provides an aid to recovery from the training, 52 percent of the respondents identified the
reason of the health improvement behind the usage of food supplements, 46 percent of the
response identified the reason of improvement of the performance, 40 percent for the
prevention of the illness and 29 percent served the reason of a balance diet (Andreasson and
Johansson, 2015).
However another view is shared by noted scholars, though the food supplements sector had
witnessed growth at the time of international events due to the expectation of the sports
person in terms of enhanced performance but the same supplements can have negative
consequences which can cause acute illness or harm to the health along with the decreased
performance level (Maughan, Depiesse and Geyer, 2007). In addition to that the usage of
supplements sometimes provides positive doping results which can lead to the suspension or
permanent banning of the athletes or the sports person and hence this can have negative
impact on the growth of the food and nutrition supplement sector of the UK.
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Figure 4: Market size of food supplements of the UK
Source: Globaldata.com. 2019
The global sales report of food and nutrition supplements reveals that in the year of 2015-
2016 the total sales of the sports nutrition supplements amounted to $ 5.60 billion indicating
that the international sports events like Cricket World Cup of 2015 enhanced the sales level.
This also indicates that the rise in the sales revenues of the food supplements in the UK is
seasonal that is only at the time of international sports events. According to a noted scholar,
the excessive usage of the food and sports nutrition supplements leads to the acute and
chronic heart and kidney diseases (Du, 2015). The individuals of the UK are health conscious
and hence this negative impact of the food supplements will demotivate them as well as the
athletes to use this irrespective of any sports events. However in this context the international
sports events will not motivate this sector because the ultimate aim of the fitness industry is
to serve people a healthy lifestyle (Taeymans, Clarys and Barel, 2014).
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