CZECH REPUBLIC: Growth of the Profit-Making Sport Sector After Economic and Political Transformations

In the Czech Republic after 1989, privatization, transition to the market economy and strengthening of individual freedom have opened new possibilities for business activities in all areas – including sport. This chapter deals with two main topics: (a) organization and governance of sport and (b) development of the private profit-making sport sector. First, a brief introduction to the situation in the voluntary, public and private sport sectors is presented. At present, the relationship between public/state and voluntary sectors and the current model of sport governance are under discussion. Second, attention is paid to the profit-making sport sector. Two business models, self-employment and corporate enterprises, are presented and discussed. Statistical framework used is the Czech equivalent (CZ-NACE) of the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2, 2008). According to the databases of Amadeus, Albertina and Merk, the highest number of corporate enterprises in the Czech Republic were found in NACE class operation of sport facilities and the highest revenue in class retail sale of sport equipment and bicycles. As typical examples of the private companies, the ten largest Czech football clubs were chosen. Data from the period 2010–2014 demonstrates that majority of these clubs were making financial losses.