The factors which can impact upon the popularity of sport in the UK

○ participation (e.g. football has wide-spread mass participation due to strong infrastructure being in place)

○ acceptability (e.g. boxing still has vocal opposition who feel that the aim of the sport is to ‘hurt the opponent’ and that it is, therefore, not appropriate, especially for younger people, opposition to horse racing due to perceived animal cruelty by use of whip)

○ media coverage (e.g. BBC1 has sole coverage of Wimbledon, therefore, avid tennis fans will watch this, The Ashes not on free to air TV)

○ provision (e.g. tennis lacks easily accessible courts impacting on base level participation)

○ environment/climate (e.g. regular involvement in snow sports as participant or spectator either requires frequent trips abroad or the use of artificial slopes as most parts of UK do not have appropriate terrain/ weather)

○ role models (e.g. lack of role models for particular groups in particular sports, such as British Asian footballers)

○ spectatorship (e.g. live professional rugby matches readily accessible)

○ success for both teams and individuals (e.g. Sir Chris Hoy’s success at the Olympics has increased participation in cycling)