THE RESEARCH OF INTEREST FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT-BASED ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Sport-based entrepreneurship includes all activities directed to the realization of entrepreneurial programs that use sport as a means of achieving their goals in any industry. Investment in sports projects will yield economic and social benefits, such as an increase in consumption, additional employment, promotion of the community, positive health effects. Therefore, it is justified to determine whether sport has been recognized as a potential entrepreneurial venture particularly because entrepreneurship in sports in Croatia has just started to develop. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is interest in starting a venture in sports what could be one of the development trends of SMEs which represent strategic orientation of Croatia. This study is aimed at determining the familiarity of the respondents with the concept of entrepreneurship in sports, the potential for launching ventures in sports, possible types of sports for the investment, the expected benefits for the community and the potential obstacles to investments. The survey was conducted anonymously through an online questionnaire in the period between 11th June and 5th July 2014. The questionnaire was completed by 200 respondents. After the descriptive statistical analysis the results obtained suggest the existence of interest in the development of sport-based entrepreneurship. More than half of the respondents believe that there is enough potential for the development of entrepreneurship in sports, while still less than half of the respondents would decide to start their own venture in sports. Most of the espondents consider lack of financial resources the largest obstacle. It is interesting that even though a large number of respondents are acquainted with the concept of sports tourism, the concept of entrepreneurship in sports is known only to 65% of the respondents.