The Financial Cost of Climate Change on Grassroots Sport

We’ve all been there. Turning up for a match on a rainy Sunday, only to find the pitch waterlogged and unplayable. But it’s not just time that’s lost - the financial costs of these increasing disruptions are adding up. New research commissioned by the UK Government shows that extreme weather and its impacts are already costing the sector around £320 million annually.

This figure combines two main areas, with an estimated £200 million spent on repairing and maintaining facilities damaged by increasingly frequent extreme weather, such as flooding and storms, and a further £120 million lost due to match cancellations and forced closure of facilities. 

For community clubs that already operate on tight budgets, these costs are adding up to present potentially a catastrophic risk.  As the report warns, some clubs - and even entire sports - “might not survive.” Those that do could become “increasingly elitist,” as rising costs make grassroots levels accessible only to the clubs, communities, and players with the resources to cope.

However, the report also highlights the double nature of the challenge, in an estimation of the carbon footprint of the sector itself. Grassroots sport contributes around four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year, approximately 0.5 per cent of the UK’s total emissions. The majority of the footprint is concentrated in travel, with players, coaches, and supporters regularly moving between training sessions and fixtures, sometimes as far as travelling across the country. Another major contributor is energy use in facilities, such as lighting and heating stadiums and gyms.

It's clear that grassroots sport faces a double challenge - while it must become more resilient to the worsening climate impacts that are already disrupting play, it also has a role to play in taking steps to reduce its own contribution to the climate crisis.

However, the report makes it clear - individual clubs should not shoulder this burden alone. Alma economics sets out a series of recommendations for how the sector can respond. Measures include supporting clubs to measure and reduce their own emissions, such as supporting sustainable travel to matches, promoting investment in sustainable and resilient facilities, and providing practical guidance and funding for extreme weather events.

The report also calls for coordinated action at a national level. It recommends that the UK Government, devolved administrations, and national sports bodies work together, alongside their international counterparts, to better understand the impacts of climate change on grassroots sport and to develop collective responses. This coalition approach recognises that protecting community sport requires not just local adaptation, but a sector-wide effort to share knowledge, pool resources, and drive systemic change. In football, we need to see the FA, county FAs, leagues, and clubs all playing a role in a united response, with player and community voices heard.

The intangible benefits of grassroot sports can’t be denied. It underpins community life, supports public health, and provides pathways for young people into elite sport. If facilities continue to be damaged or closed, and if participation becomes increasingly unaffordable, the social cost will be felt across the country.

The evidence is clear: climate change is already costing grassroots sport hundreds of millions every year. Without urgent action from government, governing bodies, clubs, and players, the UK risks losing much more than pitches and facilities. It risks losing the very foundation of community sport.