Germany has 82,500,000 residents, 91,000 sports clubs, 27,500,000 affiliated individual members, 7,500,000 volunteers working in sports, and 555,000,000 hours of volunteer work in sports per year (Blood, 2015). This speaks volumes to the value of sports in this country. The general structure of sports in Germany is crucial to its success. Germany self-governs its sports, meaning they have a non-governmental structure. Their cooperation of sport organizations and public authorities are critical for the structure of the government body for sports.
Sports in Germany are autonomous; sporting authorities finance themselves from their revenues. The German government uses the principle of subsidiarity. For example, the central authority should only act on tasks that cannot be performed at a more local level. The German government distributes funding directly to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), national sport governing bodies (NGBs), high performance training centers and sports academies/schools, sports infrastructure and facilities development, sport science organizations, disability sport and other sport initiatives. The DOSB is the central organization of 16 regional sports confederations (one in each provincial region or state), 62 national (sport-governing) federations and 20 sport associations.
The public sports administration has three different levels; nation, regional, and local. The national level deals with federal ministry of the interior, regional level deals with the sixteen federal states, and the local level deals with towns/ districts/counties. The local level has municipal/ district sports federations where sports clubs are self-governed. The next level (regional) has sixteen regional sport confederations with the next step being the 61 national sport federations. The highest level (national) deals with the German Olympic Sport Confederation.
The Federal government Ministry of the Interior (BMI) is the government department responsible for the development and promotion of sport in Germany. They handle promotion of high-performance sports including the significant funding of federal central training centers, federal training bases and Federal achievement centers as well as assist with the construction for sports facilities with the state and municipal governments (German Sports Systems, 2016). Lottery funds, state governments, and private sources help with funding for high performance sports, especially the German Sports Assistance Donation Fund. This body is basically the “welfare association” for high performance sports that provide athletic financial security with an estimate of 12 million Euros. The German high-performance program is well structured since Germany takes great pride in their elite athletes as well as the facilities to have the best possible training conditions. German authorities harp on health care, social support, and financial security as essential keys for success.
The State government consists of 16 states that are responsible for supporting mass participation in sport (not including maintenance of Olympic bases). The local governments are responsible for funding sports in Germany. They subsidize sports club as well maintain sports facilities such as sports fields, sports halls, and swimming pools. Approximately EUR 3.1 billion in municipal funding is spent on sport each year (German Sports System 2016). The sport system in Germany is built on a system of clubs and a great participant base based under the German Olympic Sport Federation (DOSB), prior known as the German Sports Federation.
This is the largest sport federation in Germany with 27 million memberships and 91,000 sport associations. According to the Clearing House for Sports, every year, there are about 2.7 million volunteers that donate 500 million work and practice hours towards these sport associations The DOSB supports the interests of members at the federal, state, and municipal level such as planning, controlling and assessing high performance sports programs. The German sport federation finances itself from member contributions, funds for high performance sport from Federal budget, lottery receipts, and marketing licenses.
The members of the German sport federation (Bundestag) are 16 national sport federations (state associations), 55 central associations (NSOs), 11 sport federations with special setting of tasks 6 federations for science and education, and 2 promotion federations (German Sports Systems 2016). The DOSB has an essential role in controlling high performance sports as well as Olympic preparation under four different divisions. The summer haven, winter sports, new generation and sport science, and base system and sports medicine/physiotherapy are the four divisions under this association. Their main goal is to achieve the highest standing of world sport for Germany. The German Sport University based in Cologne, Germany is an example of the extent this country wishes to implement excellence in sports dedicating a University to education just for sport disciplines.
The German National Olympic Committee (NOK) is an independent organization within the self-government of German sports. It is funded by its own means such as membership fees, lottery funds, granting licenses as well as pursuing projects with Federal government funds such as the promotion of sport in developing countries and for sending teams to the Olympic Games. The main objectives of the Olympic Committee is to cooperate with the IOC and help with tasks for the IOC, promote of the Olympic Movement, send teams to the Olympic Games , work on eligibility rules for Olympic Games , protect the Olympic symbols, take after German participants in Olympic Games , and cooperate with other NOCs (German Sports System 2016). There are currently 20 bases in the Olympic cycle in Germany that are funded primarily by the Federal and State governments, but also receive assistance from the German Sports Assistance Donation Fund, municipal governments, state sports associations and corporate sponsors.
Public spending involves the Federal government, which estimates to 127.2 million Euros, €70.4 m directly to high performance, €8.5 m for IAT and FES, €800,000 for anti-doping laboratories, €300,000 for prevention measures, €8.5 m for World Cup Soccer organization and safety, €11m for cultural support programs accompanying World Cup. The state governments use about 688 million Euros while municipal governments use about 3.1 billion for clubs and facilities (German Sports Systems 2016).
All levels of government are responsible for funding sports in Germany, as shown the federal government is mainly concerned with funding high performance sports (with help from state government). The municipal government is the basic provider for funding sports in Germany, but is mainly associated with local sports infrastructure and bottom-up participation (subsidizing sports clubs along with building and maintaining facilities). Private spending is used to sustain the elite system. Clubs and elite athletes are very dependent on non-government support such as national lotteries, regional and nationwide sports assistance funds, and corporate sponsorships. These lottery funds help with club system in Germany, for example 530 million Euros were redirected to sports in 2004. The German Sports Federation received majority of lottery money. The German Sports Aid Foundation is a private non -profit organization that helps funding for elite athletes in Germany
Dallmeyer, Wicker, & Breuer developed a study in August 2017, examining the relationship between various types of public expenditures and individual sport participation in Germany to evaluate the allocation of resources to core public services such as education, healthcare, and transportation within the 16 Federal states. This data was crucial to the understanding of the various types of government spending can have on individual sport participation. As discussed, the federal structure shapes the distribution of powers and functions in Germany. The German legislative function is mainly focused on a federal level unlike the United States where it is concentrated on a federal and state power.
The states have the most administrative power in Germany, so they have the most responsibility for culture and education, as well as public administration of sports. These federal states can autonomously decide their budget. It is important to recognize that there is not a binding law between the government and finances for sports, but instead there is a joint voluntary effort in the federal government that mainly focuses on elite sports and the promotion of youth and grassroots sports (Dallmeyer, Wicker, & Breuer 2017). In all, this study divides public expenditures into four categories and examines the causal relationship of the impact on individual sport participation. The findings in this study give implications for policy makers and allocations of public funds. This is critical because government should promote sport engagement which has shown the potential to generate greater social benefits such as health, education, social interaction and spending on sports infrastructure will be very promising in the future.
