Evaluated by the terms of direct consumer spending in sports market, the
overall market was worth exactly £10bn in 2008, and is provisionally estimated to have fallen to
£9.85bn in 2009 as the recession took hold and trends continued away from formal, competitive
sports and `equipped' sports.
The basic reasons for relatively low consumer spending are twofold: the ability to follow
professional sport in the media (mainly television) at a low cost to the consumer; and the government
subsidy provided for sports participation in terms of local facilities. Furthermore, the trend to `pure'
fitness activity such as road running or aerobics classes, away from competitive, `equipped' sports,
has reduced spending on equipment, at least in relative terms.