The economy of sportin Spain from a sociological perspective

A complementary proposal from the functionalist sociology of sport

Abstract

In Spain, the sport industry moves huge volumes of capital, economically measurable through indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Value Added (GVA) and multipliers, which result from overall consumption and trade. However, these indicators are insufficient to describe its social foundations, including those of sport. Consequently, it is proposed to carry out a reflective and theoretical exercise to communicate economic science and sociology through sociological When addressing the economic phenomenon, the incompatibility between classical approaches in economics and sociology has been a recurring theme, despite the fact that the economy is a profoundly social phenomenon. With a view to identifying common ground between the two disciplines, this paper proposes an interpretation of a phenomenon widely accepted as deeply contextual and social: Sport. Thus, its economic dimension has been examined in light of its most relevant sub-sectors for the Spanish economy, based on their contribution to national GDP and their multiplier effects according to Vilnius definition of sport, alongside a sociological analysis of these. To this end, Niklas Luhmann’s Systems Theory has been employed, due to its high level of abstraction and applicability to most social phenomenon. Consequently, it has been established that the sub-sectors of sports education, culture and betting, and sports services possess internal distinctions based on expectations, profit and socio-physical participation, which position them as functional equivalents within the sports economy; this, in turn, allows the sports economy to be compared with the terminology of economic sociology.