Sports industry: state regulation, entrepreneurship or public-private partnership

The paper focuses on the authors' views on the relevance of the state intervention the need for state intervention and regulation in the sport sector. Whereas modern sport is not only a social but also an economic phenomenon, its development, affects the interests of all socio-economic groups. To answer the question whether the state regulation in sport and in the sports industry is needed, the authors conducted a number of studies: comparative (other countries' experience has been studied), economics and statistics (the analysis of statistical information has been carried out) and empirical (a public-opinion poll has been held). Drawing on the example of auto racing the features of the interaction between the public and private entities in the sports industry are demonstrated. The paper justifies the need of the state intervention in sports organizations performance by reference to the definitions of sport as business and physical activity and culture.