GERMANY: Transformation Towards a More Private Sport Sector

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of the private sport sector in Germany as its importance has tremendously risen over the years, but the current state of research has mostly neglected this sector so far. The transition from a previously rather exclusively voluntary to a nowadays private and voluntary sport system in Germany is explained on a theoretical basis introducing Esser’s (1993) model of sociological explanation. The German private sport sector is analysed and several information are presented for example in regard to the individual characteristics of its customers. Substitution effects among the private and the voluntary sport sectors as well as differences concerning the organisational performances of non-profit and for-profit organisations are discussed. The generally positive development of the private sport sector is numerically depicted by using the example of the fitness sector in Germany. Afterwards, data of sport business fields in Germany based on the German equivalent (WZ 2008) of the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2, 2008) are presented for the year 2013. It was available for three NACE sections, namely manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, as well as administrative and support service activities, all containing directly sport-related classes. Finally, several sport business fields are highlighted and discussed in more detail focusing on the most important companies with their key facts and key financial figures. Concluding, the private sport sector’s position and significance in Germany is interpreted.