"Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, University of Ottawa."

This is a cutting-edge text which responds to the increasing importance of sport policy and its relation to public investment.

The aim of this book is to provide an overview of perspectives and approaches to sports development focusing on sport systems, sport participation and public policy towards sports. It includes twelve European countries covering all regions of Europe and eleven countries from around the globe. The objective is to present an overview of the diversity of approaches taken to sport development, focusing on the different sport systems and how sport is financed, the underlying applications of sport policy and how it is reflected in sport participation. This book takes a comparative approach which is reflected in each chapter following a similar structure. The diversity of sports systems in Europe and other continents and their (historical) context is shown. Thereby a range of policy approaches underpinning sport development around the world are presented, making it of interest to both academics and policy-makers concerned with sports economics and policy.

Public Policy and Professional Sports is a comprehensive analysis of public policy aspects of the economics of professional sports, supported by in-depth international case studies. It covers regulation and competition in the sports industry and its labour markets, public spending on stadiums and mega-events, and governance issues including unethical behaviour (corruption, doping, etc). The innovative feature of the work is the combination of economic analysis and well-known international examples with detailed case studies of public policy as it relates to sport in Australia. Australia is an excellent case study due to the high profile of sport in the national psyche and the range of popular professional sports.

Lifestyle Sports and Public Policy is the first book to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between lifestyle sports and the public policy environment which frames and regulates them. Drawing on a wide range of lifestyle sports from across the globe, including parkour, skateboarding, mountain biking and climbing, it identifies the critical issues facing practitioners and policymakers as these sports become increasingly popular. Part I examines public sector bodies that provide lifestyle sports opportunities to the public, either through funding partners or by managing facilities themselves. Part II looks at the use of lifestyle sports to promote policy agendas such as improving public health, while Part III considers the impact of public sector regulatory actions on the lifestyle sports industry. Each part contains case studies which investigate a policy issue from the perspective of a different lifestyle sport, including some sports which have traditionally been under-represented such as rodeo and curling. This book is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in lifestyle sports, leisure studies, sport tourism, leisure management or sport policy.

Set against the backdrop of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this book examines the impact on public policy from broader political decisions taken in relation to Olympic- and Paralympic-related policy. It considers the major political justifications for hosting these global sports events, evidence for their expected impacts, and topical issues including environmental protection and sustainability, the use of technology, and political protest. The book will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in sport policy and politics, and how broader political decisions come to impact on the development of Olympic and Paralympic sport. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.