Sport England

What Sport England does

Sport England is a non-departmental public body operating under the UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, distributing National Lottery and Exchequer funding to sport and physical activity organisations across England. Founded in 1996 and headquartered at SportPark, Loughborough, the body funds more than 130 long-term strategic partners and 92 Place Partnerships, deploys flagship programmes such as the Movement Fund, the £315m four-year investment across 32 sports, the £120m Talent Pathways investment for 2025-2029, and a £35m Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games legacy programme. Its go-to-market combines direct multi-year funding agreements with National Governing Bodies and Active Partnerships, competitive grant rounds, and major public campaigns including This Girl Can, We Are Undefeatable, Play Their Way, and Get Moving, targeting under-represented groups such as inactive adults, women and girls, disabled people, lower socio-economic communities, and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic populations.

The organisation's core technology stack is data and insight infrastructure rather than consumer software: the Active Lives Survey provides longitudinal participation measurement across England, supplemented by Local Area Insights, Small Area Estimates, Activity Check-in, the OpenActive platform, and a Place Needs Classification Tool that informs investment decisions. The Digital Futures programme, co-developed with UK Active and technology partners (Gladstone, EGYM, Xn Leisure, PerfectGym), now includes an AI-supported assistant for digital maturity assessment. Direct-to-consumer products are limited to the Play Their Way coaching app.

Revenue mechanics are entirely public-sector: approximately two-thirds of capital originates from National Lottery proceeds and the balance from government exchequer, with no commercial product sales. Customer segments span National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships, local authorities, education institutions, and grassroots clubs, with pricing structured as grant tiers ranging from community-level match funding (e.g., £26,000 via Crowdfunder) to multi-year strategic awards exceeding £37 million. Recent diversification into private-sector sponsorship targets an additional £50 million, signalling incremental movement beyond the traditional lottery/exchequer funding dyad.

Name

Sport England

Legal name

Sport England

Website

https://sportengland.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Sport England is a UK non-departmental public body that distributes National Lottery and government funding to sport and physical activity organisations across England, supporting 130+ long-term partners and 92 Place Partnerships through flagship campaigns such as This Girl Can and the Active Lives Survey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sport Funding and Policy

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Amateur & Grassroots Sport Associations (Community/Youth Governing Orgs) (MPAKAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sports Fundraising & Development Services (Foundations, NIL Collectives Support) (MPAKAKAK), Amateur Sport Governing Bodies & Federations (National/Regional) (MPAKACAD), Sports Compliance, Governance & Integrity Services (Safeguarding, Anti-Doping, Match Integrity) (MPAKAKAM), Disability & Adaptive Sport Governing Bodies (Paralympic & Sport-Specific) (MPAKAFAL)

Keywords

• Sport funding programs
• Physical activity promotion
• Community sport development
• Talent pathway investment
• National lottery grants

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. National Lottery Funding: Approximately two-thirds of Sport England's funding comes from the National Lottery. Players purchasing lottery tickets contribute to sport and physical activity funding across England.
2. Government Exchequer Funding: Sport England receives direct funding from the UK Government through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), representing a significant portion of their total funding alongside lottery proceeds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Sport England is a UK non-departmental public body that distributes National Lottery and government funding to organisations that deliver sport and physical activity across England. It awards grants and multi-year strategic partnership funding to National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships, local authorities, schools, and community groups, runs national behaviour-change campaigns, gathers population-level activity data through the Active Lives Survey, and operates place-based partnerships in 90+ locations. Its products and services are grant funding programmes, data and insight tools, resource hubs, campaigns, and partnerships rather than commercial goods.

Product overview

Sport England is a public body investing National Lottery and government funding to help people across England get active and play sport. The organisation operates primarily as a funding body and strategic partner rather than a technology product company. Its core offerings include the Movement Fund (main funding programme), the Active Lives Survey (data collection platform), the Movement Hub (resource portal), and multiple national campaigns including This Girl Can, We Are Undefeatable, Get Moving, and Play Their Way. Sport England also delivers place-based work through Place Partnerships (investing in over 90 locations), Long-term Partnerships (with 130+ organisations), and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games legacy programme (£35m investment). The Digital Futures programme supports digital maturity in the physical activity sector. The organisation's work spans funding, research, guidance, and campaigns aimed at tackling inactivity and reducing inequalities in access to sport and physical activity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• This Girl Can: Campaign to help women and girls get active, developed in partnership with UK Active
• We Are Undefeatable
• Play Their Way
• Get Moving
• Active Lives
• Movement Fund
• Uniting the Movement

Products and services

• The Movement Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 30 million English adults now meeting Chief Medical Officer's guidelines - increase of 859,000 from previous year
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UK ActivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership in Digital Futures programme - a digital maturity initiative for the physical activity sector. Over 335 fitness and leisure operators, NGBs, and sector organizations have participated since 2021. 2026 priorities include reaching more organizations, supporting lower and mid-maturity organizations, and connecting digital initiatives with health pathways.
• CIMSPAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSport England pledged to work with CIMSPA to produce a new workforce strategy by end of 2016 to professionalise the physical activity sector, implementing recommendations from the government's Sporting Future strategy. Sport England will fund CIMSPA to develop a framework of sector skills, formalise career development pathways and improve CPD offerings.
• UK SportcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint launcher of £2m Major Events Engagement fund to support NGBs hosting major international sporting events in England, aimed at creating lasting community legacies. Also partnered on tackling racism and racial inequality in sport (TRARIIS) review.
• Test Valley Borough CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal authority partner providing additional backing alongside Sport England's matched funding for Andover Cricket Club's new training nets through Crowdfunder campaign.
• SportsAidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRunning the Backing the Best programme, turbo-charged with £1.5m additional National Lottery funding from Sport England. Supports young athletes with costs typically exceeding £6,600 per year. Alumni include Paris 2024 medalists.
• Badu SportsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity-based organization awarded £485,000 to provide more opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to explore and develop sporting potential. Embedded in East London communities.
• Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for delivering £35m investment to maximize impact of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at grassroots level. Includes equipment giveaway programme for community organizations in West Midlands.
• Safer Spaces to Move TaskforceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTaskforce partnered with UK Active and Sport England's This Girl Can campaign to develop guidance on communicating policies around sexual harassment and intimidation in fitness and leisure facilities.
• British JudominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivering the 'Finding your Feet' fall prevention programme teaching judo-based falling techniques to reduce injury risk for older people and those with Parkinson's disease. Selected as Sport England case study due to success and diverse partnership model.
• Parkinson's UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding partner for the 'Finding your Feet' programme alongside Sport England. Programme teaches judo-based falling techniques developed by academics at University of Hertfordshire and Anglia Ruskin University.
• Local Government Association (LGA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership delivering Leadership Essentials programme for over four years, nurturing collaborative leadership skills of officers from local authorities, leisure trusts, Active Partnerships and sector partners.
• National Evaluation and Learning Partnership (NELP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with Sport England and local communities to support learning and evaluation of whole systems and place-based approaches, enhancing understanding of how to address inequalities in physical activity.
• Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in developing Navigating Local Systems resource, sharing learning from places supported in developing local knowledge, skills and capacity to drive change in their systems.
• Active Partnerships National OrganisationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentral network organization for Active Partnerships, uniquely placed to lead, broker and catalyse place-based working. CEO Andy Taylor endorses Sport England's place partnership investments as ensuring funding reaches communities that need it most.
• Grant Thornton UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnalytics partner for UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2026, commissioned by UK Active in collaboration with Sport England.
• Scottish CyclingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in calling for £30 million government investment for over 250 new community cycling facilities across England, Scotland, and Wales.
• Beicio Cymru (Welsh Cycling)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in calling for £30 million government investment for new cycling facilities across England, Scotland, and Wales, ahead of 2027 Tour de France Grand Départs.
• UK SportcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint leadership transition reported. Sport England also partnered with UK Sport on Code for Sports Governance review and Diversity in Sport Governance audits.
• NHScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic health partner. Sport England's place-based work connects with NHS health pathways. Leicester partnership includes NHS Leicester City contribution. Research shows Places to Ride programme saved NHS £13.1m through healthcare prevention.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Sport Ireland: Ireland's statutory authority for sport, funding national governing bodies and participation initiatives, operating the same public-funding-body model as Sport England.
• Sport Northern Ireland: The leading public body for the development of sport in Northern Ireland, distributing Exchequer and lottery funding—directly analogous to Sport England within its jurisdiction.
• Sport Wales: Welsh Government-sponsored body responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales, mirroring Sport England's grassroots funding and development remit in a different territory.
• Sport New Zealand: The New Zealand Crown entity responsible for promoting and investing in play, active recreation and sport, closely mirroring Sport England's participation-focused funding mandate.
• Australian Sports Commission (Sport Australia): Australia's principal national sport agency funding participation and high-performance sport, structurally comparable to Sport England as a government sport-development body in another country.
• Sport Scotland: The national agency for sport in Scotland distributing government and lottery funding to grassroots and community sport—the same model as Sport England but in a different home nation.

Direct peers

• UK Sport: The UK's high-performance sport funding agency, co-funded by government and the National Lottery; it is Sport England's sister body focused on elite/Olympic sport where Sport England covers grassroots, and the two frequently co-invest and co-govern.
• Football Foundation: UK grassroots sport charity that funds and delivers community football facilities, frequently co-investing with Sport England and operating a comparable grant-distribution and facilities-development model.

Others

• Sport England Active Partnerships (Active Partnerships National Organisation): The national network organisation coordinating local Active Partnerships that deliver place-based physical activity work; an ecosystem partner and delivery channel closely tied to Sport England rather than a competitor.

Broad incumbents

• The National Lottery Community Fund: A large lottery-distributing public body funding community projects across the UK; overlaps with Sport England as a lottery grant-maker but spans a much broader remit than sport and physical activity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Sport_England
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SportEngland
• Facebookfacebook.com/sportengland
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sport-england
• Instagraminstagram.com/sportengland

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sport England