Sport contributes to HB economy study

Hawke's Bay's sport and recreation sector contributed $106.4 million to the regional GDP, supporting a case for further investment in the industry over the coming years.

A Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) study into the value of sport over 2008/09 also revealed there were 32,903 Hawke's Bay sports volunteers, a workforce which delivered an estimated 3.7 million hours and in 2009 values that was worth $53.1 million.

The contribution of sport and recreation, including volunteer services, to the national GDP in 2008/09 was more than $5.2 billion.

The national section of the study was revealed in December but the figures for Hawke's Bay were released a few weeks ago and the data was welcomed by Sport Hawke's Bay's chief executive Colin Stone. "I think one of the challenges we always face, not only in Hawke's Bay but as a sector, is trying to quantify the contribution sport makes to the community," he said.

"There are lots of anecdotal and feel good statements but never any measurement to work out the value of sport in hard economic terms. Now we are starting to see data appear that does put a value on the economic spin offs for sport."

The study said Hawke's Bay councils spent $6.9 million on new sport and recreation facilities in 2008/09 but the figure would have increased in the past three years, with major developments at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park in Hastings and McLean Park in Napier.

It also looked at the 2006 Census which showed Hawke's Bay employed 1359 people in sport and recreational activities, or 1.9 per cent of people employed in the region. Just over 5 per cent of the educational curriculum was related to sport and recreation in Hawke's Bay schools which equated to $6.7 million of teacher salaries.

Mr Stone said Sport Hawke's Bay was studying each major sporting event in a year to record the return to the community.

"We are looking at the economic data recorded from the Horse of the Year show, which was a $12 million return, we've also got an economic study on a basketball tournament held at the Pettigrew Green Arena," he said.

"And a study which is about to be done is on the economic value of the IronMaori event to Hawke's Bay, which is a huge event."

Mr Stone said he hoped the SPARC study would be repeated regularly as the data collected would help Sport Hawke's Bay target its efforts in the community.

"We are getting better at understanding the trends of who is involved in sport, in terms of participation and who is participating in what sport," he said.

"We're starting to do some ground work around breaking down demographics which is an incredibly useful tool to have."