Danish sport has changed radically in recent decades. Three central development trends \u2013 professionalization, commercialization and bureaucratization \u2013 have affected organizations, federations, and clubs, both in Denmark and internationally. All three development trends must be seen in the light of globalization, just as the development trends have a number of mutually reinforcing effects. The development trends have had both advantages and disadvantages but have also led to great inequality between federations and clubs in individual sports. The inequalities are seen in several parameters; financial subsidies from organizations and municipalities via membership numbers, sponsorships and commercial partnerships, municipal priorities, number and quality of facilities, media coverage and support from fans, to name just a few.<\/p>\n
Professionalization \u2013 more employees and fewer volunteers<\/strong><\/p>\n Organizations such as the Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF), DGI and Team Denmark, federations such as the Danish Football Association (DBU) and Danish Handball Federation, as well as the largest clubs, primarily within football, handball, swimming, gymnastics and golf, today have significantly more employees than 15-20 years ago. The purpose of employing managers (directors, club and sports managers and professional coaches) and employees with professional skills within organization and management, economics, law and communication has been to strengthen the quality of the organization, federation or club’s core tasks. In addition, through employment, the organization, federation or club has been able to strengthen its competitiveness in good sporting results, more activities and members or better facilities. The development has had several positive effects, but it has also changed the relationships between employees and volunteers (board members, unpaid coaches and parents). In my opinion, one of the biggest future challenges for Danish sports will be to create a clear and precise division of tasks, roles and responsibilities between employees and volunteers. And this challenge becomes greatest and most difficult in smaller federations and clubs, where resources in the form of members and money are often limited.<\/p>\n Commercialization \u2013 exponential economic growth in very few sports<\/strong><\/p>\n In recent decades, football, both in Denmark and not least internationally, has developed into a gigantic entertainment industry. Most Danish division clubs are now run as private limited companies with a focus on commercial partnerships, media rights and the purchase and sale of players. This has been successful for a very few super league clubs (FC Copenhagen, FCN and FC M), but far from all elite clubs. The gap between professional clubs and grassroots clubs has never been greater than it is today. It is estimated that the total net revenue in the Super League clubs has increased more than tenfold in the past 25 years; from 200-300 million kroner at the turn of the millennium to 2.5 – 3 billion in 2025. The exponential economic growth in football has been particularly striking and no other sport \u2013 neither in Denmark nor in Europe \u2013 comes close to the economic development of football. Analyses show that football today accounts for 70-80% of the total economic turnover in Danish professional elite sports, and that the 379,000 registered members of the country’s football clubs “only” account for 18% of DIF’s total membership of 2.1 million. It is thought-provoking that Danish club handball, which has had a significant economic growth of 75% in the past 10 years, today has a total economic turnover in the two leagues of 450 million kroner. This is less than 1\/5 of football’s total economic turnover.<\/p>\n Bureaucratization \u2013 more laws and regulations, more control and less freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n Increased bureaucracy is a widespread welfare phenomenon that has also affected Danish sports. Over the past few decades, both federations and clubs have experienced that public authorities (state and municipalities) are making more and more demands in relation to money laundering laws, child certificates, handling of personal data, permits for sports competitions and events and much more. Organizations such as DIF, DGI and Team Danmark require applications, strategy and framework agreements, extensive documentation and evaluations from federations and clubs to provide financial support and professional advice. The consequences of this development are that larger federations and clubs with administrative staff have better access to resources than smaller federations and clubs with few or no employees, where these bureaucratic processes and tasks must be handled by volunteers, perhaps with few or no professional qualifications.<\/p>\n Is it possible to maintain a diverse sports life in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n Everything indicates that the above-mentioned development trends will continue in the coming years, probably with increased strength. It is of course a political decision whether the development of Danish sports should be left to free market forces or whether municipalities and organizations such as DIF and DGI should give special priority to smaller federations and clubs, which primarily rely on the efforts of volunteer leaders and coaches. It is not a law of nature that there should be 63 or more specialized federations and more than 9,000 or more sports clubs in Denmark. But without radically changed public and organizational subsidy models and more support for administration, professional advice and education for smaller federations, associations and clubs, Danish sports will become much less diverse in the coming decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"