After 7 years of build-up and hype, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 have begun. While much of the focus has been on preparations for the Games, the event has also been seen as a chance to turbocharge the nation’s SportsTech and Sports Innovation ecosystems.
Until now, these industries have been an afterthought in France’s startup ecosystem. However, entrepreneurs in the sector and the French government believe there is massive potential to create a thriving economy around the future of sports that delivers both economic and health benefits. Thanks to the Olympics, over the past two years there has been a frenzy of activity and new programs designed to boost the visibility of SportsTech and accelerate the development of startups.
This Sector Deep Dive provides a panorama of the state of SportsTech in France and the people, startups, investors, and public actors who are shaping this market.
The Big Picture
One of the biggest challenges is defining the outlines of what gets included in SportsTech and Sports Innovation. State bank Bpifrance counts 28,000 companies and 450,000 jobs in the sports economy. That represents 2.6% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including €71 billion in annual revenues and €32.4 billion in direct household consumption. In this case, Bpifrance defines “sports economy” as all economic activities related to the country's sports industry: sporting events, clubs and media, merchandising and equipment manufacturers, tourism, and sports infrastructure.
Those numbers can be a bit misleading. For instance, in the sports economy, the retail sector accounts for 49% of sales from about 20% of companies. Sports activities represent 60% of companies, but only generate 11% of economic activity. Production of goods accounts for 10% of companies and 22% of economic activity. Within this total, sports betting accounts for €13 billion in sales.
The number of sports business “start-ups” ranges from 10,000 to 15,000 annually, according to Bpifrance. But increasingly, these are self-employed “auto-entrepreneurs” working as independent coaches or trainers, which are still counted as “companies” in French economic statistics. The number of small-company startups with employees is declining while the number of mid-sized and large companies account for larger portions of revenues – a sign of consolidation.
