Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what research his Department has conducted or commissioned on the economic benefit of major sports teams to local economies; and if he will make a statement.

Sport makes a huge contribution to the UK economy, attracting participants and visitors from the UK and abroad.

The value of sport and physical activity tothe UK economy is estimated at around £40 billion each year, or nearly 3% of UKGross Value Added.Sport related consumer spending was worth around £30 billion in 2012 - over £1 billion of this comes from spending on spectator sports.

Visit Britain's study on Football Tourism found that total spending by international visitors who attended a football match was £684 million in 2014. Visitors who attended a match had an average spend on average £855 in the UK, compared with an average spend of £628 for those who did not attend a match.

The latest Sport Satellite Account which details these figures can be found at :https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/450258/UK_Sport_Satellite_Account__2011_and_2012.pdf.

Visit Britain's study can be found via this link:https://www.visitbritain.org/sites/default/files/vb-corporate/Documents-Library/documents/2015-9%20VisitBritain%20Report_Football%20tourism%20scores%20for%20Britain.pdf