The Netherlands: A joint venture of clubs, businesses, municipalities and schools in sport

In the Netherlands, sport is rooted in a long-lasting tradition of non-profit private initiatives. These origins are still visible in the great number of sport clubs and volunteers that shape today’s Dutch sport landscape. The last decades however, have seen a growth in commercial initiatives. All in all, sport currently takes up 1% of the Dutch economy and 1.3% of its labour force. Most expenditures in sport are created by households (61%) and by the national and local governments (24%). The 25,000–28,000 sport clubs still represent an important economic factor in the Netherlands, if only for their 56,000 full time equivalents of voluntary work. However, it is not expected that sport in the Netherlands will ever become a full-blown commercial sector. Municipalities, schools and sport clubs will continue to play important roles in shaping the Dutch sport landscape, keeping costs for the final consumer low, and adding to the accessibility and sustainability of the sport system as well as to the social ties between citizens.