Analysis of the evolution of the number of federation licenses in Spain (2009-2021)

Abstract

Sport is defined as all physical activities aimed at improving physical fitness, developing social skills or acquiring positive achievements in competitions at another level. The celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona led to an increase in the number of federations licenses in Spain. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse and understand the evolution of the number of federation licenses in Spain according to the sport discipline, the sex of the participants and the sport clubs between 2009 and 2021. After performing a descriptive analysis of the data obtained, football is the sport with the highest number of licenses, followed by hunting, golf, climbing and basketball. In addition, padel is one of the disciplines that has shown the greatest growth in recent years. As for the sex of the sports participants, there is a notable difference between the number of male (75%) and female (25%) licenses. Lastly, in terms of sports clubs, football is the discipline with the highest number of clubs, followed by hunting, cycling, climbing and basketball. To reduce this gap, awareness-raising work regarding gender equality between men and woman should be carried out, as well as increasing knowledge of the existence of minority sports and sports for people with disabilities.