In the U.K., "across football, rugby and cycling, economic activity around sport is growing," according to Andrew Critchlow of the London TELEGRAPH. Supporting more than 450,000 jobs in the country, sport has become over the last five years a £20B ($30B) industry in the U.K., but experts believe this is "just the beginning as more money flows into the fast growing sector." Deloitte Sports Business Group partner Dan Jones said that Britain's "increasing love of both watching and participating in sport will see it continue to outpace the average rate of growth in the wider economy over the next decade." Jones: "The legacy of the London Olympics has been phenomenal and continues to be a major boost for the sports economy in the U.K." In terms of industries, sport now "ranks among the top 15 mainstream activities in the economy including telecommunications, legal services and utilities." Supported by the national lottery elite, sport is also receiving a guaranteed £125M ($189M) of funding through the 2016 Rio Olympics. A further £1B ($1.5B) has been committed by the government to "fund school sports over the same period." Cycling is now thought to contribute £3B ($4.5B) to the overall economy and employ more than 23,000 people in the U.K. The sport is "also beginning to attract more interest in Britain from sponsors who are interested in tapping into its rapidly growing fan base and the increasing number of televised events." Despite the recent growth of Team Sky, it is "yet to rival the major mainstream sports in terms of corporate spending." Tour of Britain organizer Sweetspot CEO Hugh Roberts said, "Football is still going to trump cycling every time." The financial clout of Premier League football in the U.K. has reached a "colossal scale," rivaling major U.S. sports such as the National Football League and Major League Baseball. Premier League clubs have annual combined revenues that exceed £2.5B ($3.8B) and generate "perhaps the greatest benefit for the wider economy" (TELEGRAPH, 5/3).
