Sport and leisure : Overview

The industry in a nutshell

With high levels of investment planned by government and employers, mainly in response to the successful London Olympics bid for 2012, there are more graduate career opportunities in the sport and leisure industry than ever before.

The introduction of the Smoking Ban Law in 2006-2007 has had a big impact on the casino and bingo industry.  While many bingo clubs have suffered from falling revenue, there has been a big increase in the number of players visiting online bingo sites and as a result many new job opportunities now exist in the online gaming industry (Mintel report, 2009).  

There is a growing awareness and understanding of health and fitness activities in the UK. More people than ever are actively taking part in sport and leisure as a hobby and this is also fuelling a growth in the number of available jobs.

What kind of work can I do?

The main areas of work are:

Health and fitness

• club and duty management;
• sales and marketing;
• instructing and coaching;
• consultancy work based on GP referrals - usually with particular sections of the population, e.g. those with diabetes, arthritis;
• osteopathy, naturopathy and chiropractic;
• lifestyle consultancy and nutrition - opportunities are increasing as the sector embraces the concept of wellness.

Sport and recreation

• sport development, performance, administration and facility management;
• outdoor education;
• general management in venues including theme parks, cinemas and tourist attractions;
• outdoor pursuits;
• sport media, including writing, PR and marketing;
• area, club and duty management in a range of venues, including casinos and bingo halls;
• online games software development and business development;
• management of holiday and caravan parks;
• roles within adventure tourism and gap year providers.

What’s it like working in this sector?

• Working hours can be long.  Employees are often required to work shift patterns and weekends.
• Typical salaries after training range from £20,000 to £35,000 (Graduate Recruitment Bureau, 2009).
• Just over half of the sport and recreation workforce in England is female. It has a higher proportion of young people (16-24) than the workforce across England as a whole (SkillsActive Workforce and Skills Summary 2009).
• 95% of employees are currently from white ethnic groups, compared to 91% in the whole economy (SkillsActive Workforce and Skills Summary 2009).

How big is this sector?

Sport and recreation

• The sport and recreation industry as a whole employs around 621,000 people. This is spread across the public, private and voluntary sectors. (SkillsActive, 2009)
• There are a huge number of volunteers working in sport and recreation.  The latest Active People survey estimates that two million people in the UK commit at least one hour a week to volunteering in sport.

Betting and gambling

• There are currently just over 140 casinos, employing 14,000 people in the UK. There are 17,000 employees in the bingo club industry and 57,000 in the betting industry.
• The Gambling Act 2005 permitted online casinos to operate from the UK and consequently there are now over 320 online operators of betting and gambling sites employing almost 8,000 people. (The Gambling Commission Annual Report 2008/2009).

Health and fitness

• There are 3,000 private health clubs and over 2,500 leisure centres in the UK, which together employ over 45,000 staff.  An additional 800 clubs are expected to open over the next few years in this growth industry (Skills Active, 2009).

Where can I work?

Opportunities for graduates exist throughout the UK with a greater concentration insouth-east England. There are also significant opportunities in the North West and Scotland. Wales and Northern Ireland have the lowest numbers of employees. With the increase in large, multinational health clubs and betting and gaming employers, worldwide positions may be possible. See opportunities abroad.