Assessing the contibution of sport to the economy

Sport has always been an important part of society but it is now becoming an increasingly important part of the economy. Consequently, the measurement of the economic impact of sporting events has become a focus of some interest to a number of groups including policy makers and sporting officials. In this paper the established procedures for measuring economic impacts are evaluated from the perspective of the nature of the information required by decision makers. It is found that the traditional approach to the measurement of the economic impacts of sporting events is conceptually flawed and potentially misleading. An alternative series of measures are suggested. These measures are more focused on information requirements and better grounded in the principles of welfare economics than those that are now widely used.