The Economics of Sport in Asia: Editors' Overview

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12130
• Author: Kazumasa Iwata,Takatoshi Ito,Marcus Noland,Shujiro Urata,Colin McKenzie
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Published date: 01 January 2016

The Economics of Sport in Asia:

Editors’ Overview

Takatoshi ITO,1Kazumasa IWATA,2Colin MCKENZIE,3† Marcus NOLAND4

and Shujiro URATA5

1Columbia University, 2Japan Center for Economic Research, 3Keio University, 4Peterson Institute for

International Economics and the East-West Center and 5Waseda University

JEL codes: F5, F69, I24, J00, J16, J21, L83, M14, O11, O18, R53, Z13, Z20, Z21, Z28

1. The Economics of Sport in Asia

Sports are a massive economic and social phenomenon. Counting gate revenues, spon-

sorship, media rights, and merchandising, it has been estimated that in 2015 professional

sports globally will generate $145 billion in revenue, $28 billion of which will be in Asia

(PWC, 2011). Revenue figures bounce around from year to year depending on whether a

mega-event such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup is scheduled. Since Asia

is scheduled to host the Olympics in 2018 (Pyeongchang), 2020 (Tokyo), and 2022

(Beijing), one can safely expect that Asia’s prominence in the global sports industry will

rise further over the medium run. Adding in amateur sports, equipment sales, etc., the

revenue figures would be even higher.

In recent decades, sport has both contributed to and been shaped by globalization.

To take one prominent example, the Olympic Games are the largest regularly scheduled

international mass gathering, with hundreds of thousands of on-site participants includ-

ing athletes, team officials, press, and spectators, with billions more people following the

event via the media. At the most recent Summer Olympic Games in London, 10,500 ath-

letes – 4700 of which were women – from over 200 nations participated. The Olympic

Games are among the few truly global events and as such wield an enormous ideational

influence on popular culture and public attitudes.

Historically, hosting such mega-events has been a coveted honor (although as

hosting costs mount, taxpayers are beginning to have second thoughts), and can act as a

powerful signal that an emerging power has arrived on the world stage. This symbolism

was most recently evidenced in China in 2008, when 25,000 accredited media personnel

from 159 countries, joining hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors, descended on

Beijing to beam back the unfolding drama to billions of viewers at home.

But just as hosting such mega-events can be used to convey soft power, the process of

globalization is changing the economics of sport, creating a more genuinely worldwide

market for athletic talent, and to a lesser extent corporate ownership. The globalization

of the labor market can be seen in the explosive growth in the salaries of professional

athletes (Lawrence, 2015). Cross-border investment in professional team ownership is

†Correspondence: Colin McKenzie, Faculty of Economics, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Tokyo

108-8345, Japan. Email: mckenzie@z8.keio.jp

bs_bs_banner

doi: 10.1111/aepr.12130 Asian Economic Policy Review (2016) 11, 1–15

© 2016 Japan Center for Economic Research 1