The study “The impact of Lotteries as a funding source for European sport” carried out by SportsEconAustria proves once again the significant benefits of the lottery funding for the economy. Apart from the well-known contribution of lottery funding to grassroots sport, the study provides some concrete figures about the further impact of Lotteries’ contribution to sport on the economy and employment.
More specifically, according to the study, in 2012 the European Lotteries (EL) Members spent in total 2.5 billion euro to good causes on sport, (in the EU more than 2 billion), a volume which is almost equivalent to the GDP of Malta. Through the EL-member payments to good causes on sport, a total gross value added of over 1.5 billion euro is generated in the EU.
The contribution to the GDP is thus 0.01 percent, or in other words: every nine-thousandth euro generated in the EU can be traced back to the EL members’ payments for sports directly or indirectly. In 2012 the EL member payments to good causes on sports have generated a direct employment impact by creating over 25,000 jobs. Through economic ties with suppliers and upstream sectors, further 14,000 jobs, so-called indirect jobs, were created and ensured. Thus, as the study notes, a total of over 40,000 jobs were secured through the EL member payments on Sport which, as the study notes, “exceeds the number of inhabitants of Liechtenstein (Population 2012: 36,475)”. Hence, the employment multiplier takes the value of 1.52 which implies that every new job created through EL member payments on sport ensured additionally one half of a job in Europe.
EL President Hansjörg Höltkemeier has stated: “EL Members belong to a special and sustainable lottery model which is based on the four following principles: integrity, solidarity, precaution and subsidiarity. Our contribution to employment in Europe during these difficult times of economic crisis clearly shows that when we say that we are driven by principles, like solidarity, it is not just words, but a concrete fact. This special model that enables EL Members, driven by key principles, to be a force for good, needs to be safeguarded and recognised, so that the employment benefits of lottery funding are not jeopardised.”