Unlocking the Potential of the Sports Economy in a New Era

Đặng Hà Việt, Director General, General Department of Sports

• In many countries the sports economy is a “huge machine” that creates jobs, profits and tax revenue.
• Five leading fields: professional sport, recreational sport, sports tourism, events and sports media.
• The Summit’s aims: a space for every side to speak, a chance for sports leaders to listen, and a push for professionalisation and private investment in sport.

Dr Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Central Economic Commission · Keynote

• Asia-Pacific leads sports-economy growth at an average 9.4% a year, ahead of North America and Europe.
• The term “sports economy” first appeared officially in Directive 17 of 23 October 2002, followed by Resolution 08 (2011), Government Resolution 16 (2013) and the 13th Party Congress resolution.
• Building an industry takes policy first, then law. Vietnam still lacks full statistics on the sports economy.
• With 100 million people, Vietnam could become a hub for sporting goods and “Made in Vietnam” brands. He hopes the sports economy can reach 5–6% of GDP.

Đặng Hà Việt · Policy bottlenecks

• The biggest bottleneck is land and facilities: three professional clubs share Hàng Đẫy Stadium, taking down each other’s advertising boards.
• PPP is blocked because culture and sport are not covered by the PPP law, so “public investment, private management” is hard to apply.
• Betting is estimated at VND 100–200 trillion a year, most of it flowing to offshore sites.
• A competition has to be a product to sell. Media rights usually make up 50–70% of a league’s revenue.

Lim Song, Chairman, VSP

• Korea treats the sports economy as a pillar of growth, steered by a sports development law that covers school sport. It generates “tens of billions of dollars” a year.

Framing

• Think “customers”, not just “spectators”: casual viewers, loyal fans and highly engaged customers. “To bring people in, media has to lead.”

Trần Chu Sa, CEO, VBA

• Five steps of fan conversion: awareness → familiarity → consideration → trial → loyalty. Conversion has risen from about 0.25% to 1.5–2%, with 6–7% the target.
• VBA’s fan page has almost 800,000 followers; VBA 3x3 takes the game onto the street; a ticketing app since 2017–2018 collects customer data.

Bùi Huy Năm, CEO, VTVcab

• Three tests for buying rights: fan demand, company strategy and cost. VTVcab also backs sports with smaller audiences, as it did with the VBA from its first season.
• Rights value depends on how attractive and commercial a competition is. Events run purely for social goals struggle to earn rights fees.

Nguyễn Thành Đạt, Communications Director, Herbalife Vietnam

• Herbalife has backed Vietnamese sport for over ten years and has sponsored the national football teams since 2021.
• Sponsorship needs at least a year’s lead time; next year’s marketing plan is usually set in the first month of Q4. Criteria: fit, brand benefit, community value, media plan and measurement.
• He proposed a “Sport Expo” where competitions pitch sponsorship packages to brands and agencies.

Lê Trí Trường, Secretary General, Vietnam Volleyball Federation

• Sponsorship still relies on personal ties. The federation has cut team numbers, allowed loans and transfers, opened up to foreign players and moved games to evenings and weekends.
• In the top women’s league only 10–20% of teams are company-owned; the rest rely mainly on state funds.

Nguyễn Trà Giang, Vice President, Vietnam Chess Federation

• From Thailand: the 1998 Asian Games venues were handed to Thammasat University to run; the 2007 SEA Games village became a hotel for some 20 years. Malaysia built an international ice rink inside a shopping mall.
• Her proposal: the state builds the arena, private firms add hotels, restaurants, parking and retail so venues work all year.

Framing

• Grassroots sport is the base of elite sport: 80% of the US team at the Tokyo Olympics came through universities. Vietnam holds about 40,000 amateur events a year.

Trần Văn Lam, Deputy Director, Physical Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training

• Under Circular 32/2018 pupils choose their sport from primary to upper secondary school. The education market counts 25 million students, 1 million teachers and 40,000 schools.
• The Ministry is designing an investment model for school facilities built on “shared benefit, shared progress, shared profit”.

Nguyễn Phan Khuê, Editor-in-Chief, Thiếu niên Tiền phong và Nhi đồng

• The national U11 football tournament is in its 27th year, the longest-running event in the Vietnam Football Federation’s calendar; Động Lực has backed it for 27 years.

Vũ Mạnh Tuấn, CEO, FPT Schools

• Vovinam is a core subject for more than 100,000 learners across FPT’s schools. FPT offers scholarships and jobs to athletes with national and international results.

Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Secretary General, Vietnam Athletics Federation

• Running is booming: it is easy to start, has strong communities and provinces use it to promote tourism, with nearly 50 marathons and half marathons a year. Hà Giang’s half marathon grew from about 500 runners in 2017 to nearly 2,000 a year later.
• The federation is setting medical and security standards for races so they can join regional and international circuits.

Lê Vân Anh, Deputy Head of the Organising Committee, VnExpress Marathon

• From one race in Quy Nhơn in 2019, the series reached seven cities and provinces in 2023.
• VnExpress Marathon Huế 2023 drew 10,500 runners, about 33,000 visitors over three days and VND 55.5 billion in tourism revenue, 1.5 times the 2022 figure.

Nguyễn Quang Huy, Decathlon Hanoi

• Decathlon has manufactured in Vietnam since 1995 and retailed for about four years; it sponsors running events and is building a schools programme around affordable products.

• The views heard were recorded as a basis for policy proposals on the sports economy, as pointers for sports administrators and as a guide for companies entering the market.