Sustainable Financing of Elite Athlete Development: An Empirical Analysis of Winter Sports in Austria

Pamela Wicker,Bernd Frick

doi:10.3390/su12229664

Abstract

This study examines the value of professional winter sports to the Austrian resident population in the context of three major sporting events (the 2017 World Championships in Alpine Skiing, the 2018 Winter Olympics, and the 2019 World Championships in Nordic Skiing). In nationwide population surveys (n = 2289), the contingent valuation method was employed, and the respondents were presented with two scenarios asking for their willingness-to-pay for live broadcasts and long-term athlete development. The aggregate willingness-to-pay amounted to €42 million (for live broadcasts) and about €800 million (for athlete development). However, only about 20% of the residents expressed a positive willingness-to-pay. The respondents’ willingness-to-pay is not only determined by well-studied factors like consumption capital, intangible factors, and socio-demographics, but also by life satisfaction. The willingness-to-pay for live broadcasts is comparably higher for alpine skiing, while the willingness-to-pay for athlete development is higher for Olympic winter sports athletes. The findings have implications for sport policy and sport finance, highlighting the challenge of turning public sport consumption into a willingness to contribute financially to sustainable athlete development.

Highlights

Many countries invest in elite sport with the aim of achieving sporting success in international competitions, such as World Championships and the Olympic Games [1,2]
This study examines the value of professional winter sports to the Austrian resident population in the context of three major sporting events
The willingness-to-pay for live broadcasts is comparably higher for alpine skiing, while the willingness-to-pay for athlete development is higher for Olympic winter sports athletes

Summary

Introduction

Many countries invest in elite sport with the aim of achieving sporting success in international competitions, such as World Championships and the Olympic Games [1,2]. Elite athletes are considered to be role models because they demonstrate important traits—such as fairness, discipline, respect, performance, and endurance—which are worthy of imitation [1,4]. Both sporting success and athlete role models have the potential to inspire especially the youth population to participate in sport [5]. Success in winter sports is important to Austria because it produces further positive externalities for the country [6]. Sporting success in winter sports is important to the perceived winter sport competency of a country, which in turn yields positive effects for small tourism businesses and sports goods manufacturers [6].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion