It was following the awarding of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Paris that the idea of a Sports Festival was born.
This large gathering, which aims to unite all French men and women around the benefits of sports practice, is primarily intended to be a major popular and national celebration.
The bet was successful! The first Sports Festival, this weekend, was a unifying moment around the values of sport. 2,500 initiatives were recorded in metropolitan and overseas territories.
France is a sporting nation with 34 million participants, although only half are members of a federation. There are 317,000 associations, and 5.7 million volunteers have been counted.
Sport is a great tool to fight against physical inactivity and promote health.
The Limoges Center for Sports Law and Economics presented a detailed study on September 4th, detailing the effects of the sports movement on French society and its economy.
The results of this study allow for an assessment of the economic weight of the sports movement at 11.69 billion euros, represented by amateur sports (6.25 billion euros), professional sports (3.03 billion euros), and personal spending by participants (2.41 billion euros).
In addition to these figures, the value of human resources from volunteering is estimated between 5.2 and 10.1 billion euros.
Beyond these data, a sports entity contributes to the economic dynamism of its geographical sector, not to mention its effects on public health, integration, and education.
Yes, Sport is not just a simple entertainment but indeed a tool for economic and societal influence.
