As part of a project to improve our understanding of how the play, active recreation and sport system is funded in New Zealand, Sport NZ commissioned the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) to analyse the funding that flows into the system each year and how this has changed over time.  

Key findings 

The analysis showed that:  

• Approximately $4 billion flows into the play, active recreation and sports system each year, but overall revenue for the system has seen a real-term decline of approximately $540 million (14%) between 2018 and 2022.​ 
• Revenue comes from a wide range of sources with membership and participation fees ($1.26 billion) and local government ($1.05 billion) comprising almost 60% of the overall funding. Central government funding, sponsorship and commercial revenue, and grants and philanthropy each contribute approximately $300-$400 million each year to the sector.
• ​A reduction in revenue from membership and participation fees, sponsorship and commercial activities in recent years has led to an increased reliance on central and local government and Class 4 gaming funding. ​ 
• There has also been a real-term reduction of approximately 20% in revenue for organised sport activities while revenue has increased for ‘pay for play’ activities (for example, the fitness industry and events).  ​ 

The NZIER has also designed a data visualisation tool that can be used to provide customised breakdowns of the data contained in the report.

The value of alcohol sponsorship in sport 2023  

In recent years alcohol sponsorship in sport has been the subject of some debate. In 2015 the scale of this sponsorship was estimated at approximately $21 million. Anecdotal reports suggested this value had likely declined since then, but we had no hard evidence to support these reports. Sport NZ commissioned NZIER to provide an updated estimate of the value of alcohol sponsorship in sport.  

Key findings 

The analysis showed that: 

• There had been a reduction in the estimated amount of alcohol sponsorship in sport from approximately $21 million in 2015 to approximately $10-12 million in 2023.   
• Alcohol sponsorship accounts for 5%–6% of all sponsorship revenue received by sports organisations. 
• Local organisations (for example, local sports clubs) receive approximately 50% of this sponsorship funding with 45% going to national organisations and just 5% going to regional organisations.