Whether you’re spending money on TVs or other forms of technology or you prefer going out and having takeout food, you’ll end up getting less than your money’s worth. Spending money on sports, however, if done in a productive way, can have benefits for you, both physically and mentally. Many sports betters who bet consistently with the help of bonus codes such as the promo code for Coral claim that betting helps them relax and provides the perfect mental gymnastics.

In the UK, consumers love sports, especially football. They do love other sports, as well, from polo to cricket, swimming, and climbing, leading us to the question of how much does the UK consumer spend on sports?

The Timeline of Consumer Spending

There is a great amount of data covering a period from 1990 to 2013. These years are important as they show a very downward trend in consumers spending on sports, up until 2010.

Researchers and experts tied this to general household spending. Whenever household spending growth was negative, sports spending would follow. The opposite is also true. For example, from 1990 to 2009, steady patterns of decline in household growth were followed by a decline in sports spending growth. It is notable that many of those years were prone to recessions, in other words, the economy slowed down. In the United Kingdom, specifically, it is marked as a negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters.

All of this changed in 2010 when there was a growth of 1% in household spending and 2.9% in sports spending.

Things also escalated after the 2012 Olympic Games due to them being held in London.

2012 saw an increase in sports spending of 3.9% and 2013 another 2.2%.

The raw numbers also tell a great story.

Consumer Spending per Activity

Percentage data is all fine and well, yet raw numbers tell a much more specific story. Here are the 2013 estimations on how much consumers spend on different areas of sports.

The biggest growth from 2010 to 2013 was in participation sports, 31%. It was estimated that consumers spent around 1,991 million pounds on participation sports in 2013.

Footwear sales saw a growth of 27% from 2010 to 2013 with an estimated 1,779 million pounds spent in 2013.

TV sport is a big attraction in the UK, with consumers estimated to have spent 3,222 million pounds on TV sports in 2013.

Off-course and on-course gambling, combined, give a total of 4,033 million pounds spent by consumers in 2013. On-course betting and online betting had a 10% increase from 2010 to 2013.

Admissions and sports goods had an increase of 23% and 12%, respectively, from 2010 to 2013. The people spent 1,086 million pounds on admissions and 1,652 pounds on sports goods.

Consumers in the UK spend a lot of money on sports, as shown by this data gathered by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sports Industry Research Centre.