Sports Development Foundation

A CCORDINGTOThe University of the West Indies, sport can be a stimulus for eco- nomic growth, especially in small, open economies like those in the Caribbean. The university estimates that the economies of the Caribbean and Latin America benefit from sports to the tune of US$4.6 billion. In Jamaica, sports contributes just north of two per cent of the coun- try’s gross domestic product (GDP) ( Le Journal International 2016 ). In 2008, former Prime Minister the Most Honourable Edward Seaga said sports employed more than 22,000 Jamaicans, whose wages totalled an estimated US$700 million. Since then, those numbers have grown with more persons being employed as nutritionists, coaches, administrators, agents, and manag- ers, all of which contribute to GDP, especially in light of the success the country has been experiencing in track and field, football, netball, swimming and several other sports. This growth has come on the back of the expenditure of billions of dollars used to build out sports infrastructure at both the local and national levels, primarily by the Sports Development Foundation (SDF). This, in turn, has facilitated the development of latent talent across several sports. Responding to a question as to the amount spent on sports and whether it is worth it, Denzil Wilks, general manager at the SDF, had no doubt as to the justification. “Absolutely, I think without doubt it has been worthwhile what we have spent. I look at track and field and the kind of returns you get from the per- formances. And you get it in so many different ways,”he said. “You get it, in that athletes get to earna living for themselves.Youget it in terms of the promotion of the country, and I think that ishighlyunderestimated in terms of what sells our tourism. “When one steps on a podiumat an Olympics, or at aWorldChampionships, whereyouhavebillionsof persons look- ingon, andwhenyouhaveoutstanding people like a Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt and the others, then there is no doubt that it comes back to you in the formof tourism.” His point rings true when one con- siders the revelation made by former PUMACEOJochinZeitz, whoestimated that Bolt’s media marketing value stood at an astonishing US$358m following his exploits at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009. A couple years later, a picture of Bolt and Prince Harry, who was visit- ing Jamaica, was picked up by 1,800 online media entities and reached 18 million people across the globe. The value of the exposure was estimated at £2 billion. Beyond tourism, sports has contrib- uted to Jamaica’s GDP in other ways. “Football, themost popular game in Jamaica; there isnoquestionabout the proliferationof personsplaying football overseas. Nobody seems tobe tracking thenumber of personsplaying football professionally in the Caribbean, across Asia, inVietnam, for example, all earning a reasonable salary, and we know that whenJamaicans earn they sendmoney back here,”Wilks said. “In netball, there are about eight to SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2021 37 The power of sports in the economic framework PLEASE SEE POWER, 38