How to arrange funding for a sports facility?

Arranging funding for a sports facility that can be used for training the year round is a puzzle that is assembled through cooperation between several operators. In addition to productive operators and persistent work, the facility project always requires money as well. How is funding for a sports facility usually arranged?

Opportunities for year-round and diverse training are a hot topic in many municipalities. Once the need for a sports facility has been identified and put on the table, the project can be set into motion in a wide variety of ways. The facility project can be taken forward by a sports club that represents one or several sports, several clubs in cooperation, or the municipality. A separate facility company is often established to manage the project and the operations of the facility.

Depending on the selected implementation, the budget of a facility project can be somewhere between one million and several million euros. Such investments are major for clubs and municipalities.

“The funding arrangements are often still open when we are contacted for the first time. We are able to provide options for different concepts, as well as accurate budget prices. At the same time, we can proceed to think about the technical solutions and the budget,” comments Sales Manager

For example, funding for a sports facility can consist of:

• the club’s or clubs’ own contribution
• a loan taken out by the facility company
• funding from the city
• a state grant
• a potential grant from the Football Association of Finland
• corporate sponsorships
• funding from a private person.

The Municipality’s commitment facilitated a sports facility project in Vihti

Typically, having the municipality involved in the project requires that the club can provide its own contribution. The municipality can take part in the project by supporting it directly and guaranteeing the club’s or the facility company’s loan. The municipality can also take part in the usage costs of the facility as agreed or e.g. purchase day reservations for school groups.

The Aura Light Certos Arena in Vihti serves footballers, athletes and schoolchildren the year round and cost 3.5 million euros. The Municipality of Vihti played a major role as a funder of the project.

“The Municipality of Vihti granted us a loan that covered the entire sum with a 30-year loan term. The Municipality makes a significant interest profit from the loan, so the arrangement was attractive to the decision-makers. The Municipality also supports the facility by annually purchasing all weekday hours with a lump sum,” explains

Local businesses funded a sports facility in Ähtävä

The costs of the football training facility Esse Elektro-Kraft Arena in Ähtävä were kept in check by utilising volunteer work. Only one third of the funding had to be covered with a loan, as the majority of the €350,000 budget was covered by share capital, aid and corporate sponsorships. €150,000 of the budget was covered by the club’s own loan and €100,000 by a state grant. The project was supported by the local residents, and local businesses ended up supporting the construction of the facility with a whopping sum of €100,000, in addition to which the project was supported by the Municipality of Pedersöre.

As the main sponsor, the local electricity company had the facility named after it, and it receives visibility in the direction of the main road. The other companies sponsoring the facility project had their logos featured on the end of the facility. 

“The facility project of the Esse IK football club saw broad involvement by companies. The leaders of the project say that they would have constructed an even bigger facility had they known how extensively the companies would end up supporting the project,” Fagernäs says.

Ways how operators building a sports facility with Best-Hall have arranged their funding

• Funding for the facility as a joint procurement by clubs of the same sport operating in the same area
• Funding for the facility as a joint procurement by clubs of different sports
• The municipality or municipalities are involved in the facility procurement by investing in the facility or serving as the borrower and/or guarantor of a loan
• Government aid for building sports facilities can be applied for with the Regional State Administrative Agency (Finland) before construction begins
• The Football Association of Finland supports sports projects through the UEFA Hattrick aid programme
• Local companies fund the facility by purchasing visibility – occasionally, local businesses are enthusiastic about taking part in the costs due to their own hobby or that of a family member, for example
• Private persons can also fund the facility project, often out of love for the sport or the city
• Many clubs end up collecting an extra fee from their members or increase their membership fees
• Usage costs are covered by usage fees. Municipalities often purchase daytime reservations, while sports clubs purchase evening and weekend reservations.

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