1.4 Pos & Neg impacts on the popularity of sport in the UK.

• Positive and negative impacts on the popularity of sport in the UK includes:

  1. The number of people participating
  2. The provision of facilities
  3. Environment/climate activity influences
  4. Live spectator opportunities
  5. The amount and range of media coverage
  6. The high-level success of both individuals and teams
  7. The number and range of positive role models available in a sport
  8. Social acceptability
• The number of people participating:

  • More people participating in sport = more it generates interest. e.g. women's football
  • Same way as - people do not participate in sport = participation decreases as there is little interest.
• The provision of facilities:

  • More facilities in an area for certain sports = more participation and increase in popularity of the sports
  • On the other hand... No facilities = less participation and decrease in popularity of the sports.

  -> e.g. Tennis lacks easy accessible courts, as indoor courts are expensive. This will impact grass roots participation and lack of grass roots will impact further development of the sport.
• Environment & climate activity influences:

  • The weather and environment can have a huge impact on the popularity of sport.
  • Even though technology allows many environments to be recreated, these are not available to many people due to cost/location.
  • The cold wet weather can put a lot of people off participating
• Live spectator opportunities:

  The more opportunities to watch live sport will increase its popularity.

  -> This is mostly seen in sports such as football, rugby, cricket.

  • Sports that you are unable to spectate will reduce in its popularity.
• The amount and range of media coverage:

  The more media coverage a sport has, the more popular it will become.

  • Many sports channels such as SKY or BT offers live coverage of many sports. They also offer highlights and replays which raises their popularity.
• The high-level success of both individuals and teams:

  The greater success an individual or team has, the more popular the sport becomes.

  • Gold medal winners at the Olympics increased popularity of sports. e.g. cycling, boxing and athletics.
  • The popularity of Tennis increased when Andy Murray won Wimbledon.
  • However just as success leads to increased popularity, failure can result in a decrease in a sports popularity.
• The number and range of positive role models

  available in a sport:

  Popular role models increase the popularity of their sport.

  • It is important that role models from sport include both males, females, ethnic minorities and disability groups
  • Female footballers such as ' Ellen White ' have helped increase popularity of women's football.
• Social acceptability:

  Popular sports such as football, netball, rugby and tennis are socially accepted. (People are encouraged to play these sports from all ages.)

  • However sports like boxing or MMA may not be seen as socially acceptable as they are deemed to be violent. This can affect their popularity.