Elite Sport Funding (2 Viewers)

[Selador]

Whether it be subsidising the Olympic team or grants to the NRL to refurbish a stadium, is it legitimate for taxpayer dollars to be spent on elite sport?

Australia spends $170 million a year on elite sport. The Government's Crawford Report recommends much of this be diverted to local community and youth sport programs. Is this a better focus for sports funding? Does government even have a role in funding sport?

With Australia's dismal return on investment at the olympics, the blame game has started with calls for increased funding.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...ief-kevan-gosper/story-e6frgdg6-1226443802086


"...subsidy is for art, for culture. It is not to be given to what the people want. It is for what the people don't want but ought to have..." (Humphrey Appleby)

A valid statement? Given elite sport is generally commercially viable shouldn't it make its own way?

 

[billy chan]

Given elite sport is generally commercially viable shouldn't it make its own way?

Olympic level diving is elite, but is it commercially viable? Ping Pong? Javelin? Few elite sports at the Olympics are commercial juggernauts in Australia.

 

[starshine02]

well i think the government does have a small role but i also think that it is unnecessary for them to increase funding in that area. as for community/youth programs, i think only those who want to participate should do it. i remember being forced to do these sporting programs in primary school that i absolutely hated and just seemed like a waste of the school's money.

 

[soloooooo]

Yes, it is legitimate for government to fund sport (both at a local level and at an Olympic level).

 

[billy chan]

^ Case closed.

 

[Lentern]

Olympic level diving is elite, but is it commercially viable? Ping Pong? Javelin? Few elite sports at the Olympics are commercial juggernauts in Australia.

What does that say about the Olympics?

 

[kaz1]

Olympic level diving is elite, but is it commercially viable? Ping Pong? Javelin? Few elite sports at the Olympics are commercial juggernauts in Australia.

If it's not comercially viable, why does it deserve to survive?

 

[billy chan]

What does that say about the Olympics?

That they are a noble entity giving the minnows of sport their time to shine?

 

[billy chan]

If it's not comercially viable, why does it deserve to survive?

m8 don't ask me, I'm not a protectionist jeez.

 

[Lentern]

That they are a noble entity giving the minnows of sport their time to shine?

That statement may or not be true but it doesn't really have anything to do with the commercial no viability of Olympic Sports.

 

[Lolsmith]

That statement may or not be true but it doesn't really have anything to do with the commercial no viability of Olympic Sports.

yes it does

Some of these sports are only in existence in a competitive way because someone (the state) is bankrolling the athletes/teams for a specific purpose, that being the Olympics/world championships, etc. Do you really think that every single sport in competition at the Olympics is going to exist without the government footing the bill?

 

[funkshen]

yes it does

Some of these sports are only in existence in a competitive way because someone (the state) is bankrolling the athletes/teams for a specific purpose, that being the Olympics/world championships, etc. Do you really think that every single sport in competition at the Olympics is going to exist without the government footing the bill?

if the government stopped footing the bill, the sports would probably merge and pool their resources to survive.

i'm talking BMX skeet shooting, synchronised water badminton, so on and so forth

 

[Rafy]

Government has absolutely no role here. Providing government stimulus to lift the AOC team's place in a medal tally? What possible public interest is there in subsidising that? Ensuring the nation has a warm fuzzy feeling inside?


http://www.smh.com.au/business/olym...rt-despite-100m-cash-pile-20120807-23rbo.html

 

[funkshen]

touché

 

[soloooooo]

Of course we should fund elite sport more (as in Olympics, not professional NRL etc).

 

[Lentern]

yes it does

Some of these sports are only in existence in a competitive way because someone (the state) is bankrolling the athletes/teams for a specific purpose, that being the Olympics/world championships, etc. Do you really think that every single sport in competition at the Olympics is going to exist without the government footing the bill?

That's just paraphrasing the original statement to which I asked "what does that say about the Olympics", which was not so much a question as an insinuation that they are a lot of mickey mouse nonsense that nobody cares about and should be left to die.

 

[soloooooo]

That's just paraphrasing the original statement to which I asked "what does that say about the Olympics", which was not so much a question as an insinuation that they are a lot of mickey mouse nonsense that nobody cares about and should be left to die.

Over 1 billion people watched the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony live. It is clear the wider worldly views are (yet again) very different from yours.

 

[Lentern]

Over 1 billion people watched the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony live. It is clear the wider worldly views are (yet again) very different from yours.

How many people watched the Long Jump?

 

[funkshen]

building new venues every 4 years is beyond idiotic though

 

[soloooooo]

How many people watched the Long Jump?

I don't know although I would wager it is in the tens of millions, if not breaking 100 million.