Britain loves sport, but our approach to funding it is fundamentally flawed. We spend heavily on pitches, clubs and community programmes, yet much of that money vanishes into a black hole of short-term fixes. Simply put, we are bad sports investors because we treat funding as charity rather than a catalyst for growth.
It’s not that we don’t invest at all. Sport England estimates every £1 put into community sport returns about £4 in social benefits, that means healthier communities and less strain on the NHS. All good stuff, and the kind of payoff that justifies public spending, but for private investors the question is more direct and more inevitable: what’s in it for us?
Many companies and wealthy patrons do invest – for love of the game, brand exposure or goodwill – but too often their money just plugs budget holes instead of building lasting value. If a club constantly needs handouts, it’s a fragile model, and in a downturn sports funding is often the first head on the chopping block.
Financial sustainability is the way out. Investment must help clubs stand on their own feet. Instead of covering last season’s losses, funds should create new revenue streams. A sustainable club reinvests in growth from upgrading facilities to draw paying members or launching programmes to attract sponsors. This turns each pound into long-term income.
Britain a nation of bad investors, or misguided?
For investors, this shift changes the nature of the game. Rather than throwing good money after bad, you’re building something that lasts, with the potential for real returns as the club grows. Suddenly money isn’t confined to Premier League giants; it can back lower-league and grassroots ventures that prove they’re viable.
The good news is that change has begun. New financial models are emerging to help sports organisations run more like businesses. When clubs can reinvest and grow on their own, outside support becomes a catalyst, not a crutch.
One example is the work being done to unlock unclaimed Gift Aid by the likes of Grassroots Sports Funding – nearly £500 million a year that community clubs are entitled to but don’t know how to access.
We’re also seeing smarter operational models like aggregated kit purchasing with the likes of My Club, which cuts costs by up to 40 per cent and frees clubs to reinvest in their own development. These are practical steps that turn clubs into sustainable businesses rather than perpetual fundraising projects.
In short, we can’t keep throwing money at sport in Britain without changing how it’s used. By all means invest more but invest smarter. Demand sustainability and back clubs that treat every pound as seed capital, not entitlement. That’s what will carry sport through tough times and create a lasting legacy.
It’s time to stop being bad sports investors and start being smart ones, so every pound we put into sport goes further, and by doing so you will strengthen communities, build better clubs, and see, literal and figurative, dividends.
Andrew Smith is founder and chief at Sporta, which is looking to become a fully licensed UK bank