Recreational orienteering to become commercial?

[Paul Frost]

From the latest board minutes.

MH informed the Board that using commercial providers such as Limelight (a company introduced to British Orienteering by Sport England) as partners is a potential way to increase participation but gateways will need building in. British Orienteering is in discussions with Limelight who will provide a proposal shortly. A copy of the Limelight proposal will be given to the Board when it becomes available.
Sport England will use commercial providers rather than the Governing Body if they believe that the commercial providers can deliver a more successful programme. Commercial Providers are not only partners but potential competitors for British Orienteering. It is a possibility that recreational orienteering will become commercial.

So if recreational orienteers are removed from British Orienteering's remit what's left for them to administer?
I guess we first need to establish what/who recreational orienteers are, my guess is that it's everyone who isn't in the GB squad.
But as this is being driven by Sport England where do the Scots, Welsh and N.Irish fit in?

[Red Adder]

Limelight will expect a profit - which can only be made by sponsorship (v difficult in current economic climate) or increasing fees. Fancy paying £ 25 3.2 km short green each Sunday anyone ? That Sport England can come up with such a model suggests to me they have no understanding of how Orienteering really works.

[greywolf]

Sport England will use commercial providers rather than the Governing Body if they believe that the commercial providers can deliver a more successful programme.

Hmm. Would one (or more) of the BOF Directors like to elaborate on this? what is it that Sport England will use commercial providers to do, and what does "a more successful programme" mean?

I don't think it can mean putting on events - clubs do that, not BOF

[Clive Coles]

This sounds like another slippery slope. Once landowners realise that Commercial providers are involved as "partners" the access fees will surely increase. Do the Board really know what the risks are. What are the opportunities, what are the threats ? We seem to have lost control of our Sport

[johnhrobinson]

Looking at Limelights site they seem to be into oneoff or short series events...hi-profile with some sort of corporate or charity fund raising tiein.

The concept that sport is only worth doing if it is raising money for someone or something seems to becoming all pervasive.

I would have thought that they will expect the clubs to do the work ( local stakeholders) then sprinkle pixie dust on the result and sell it to sport England as a success.

However will we recognise the final result as orienteering?

[aiming off]

Two obvious potential high level business models here, based on their portfolio.

1) Attracting commercial sponsorship (through better contacts and better commercial understanding than is possible in the Governing Body), delivering events to meet the business requirements of the commercial sponsor, with a management fee funded primarily from part of the money raised from the commercial sponsor.

2) Running charity events , with high entry fees most of which go to charity, but with a cut to the service provider to the charity.

Are either of these models in the interests of the majority of the membership? Should we be open to 1) ??

[Spookster]

Sport England is focused on helping people and communities across the country create a sporting habit for life. We will invest over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding between 2012 and 2017 in organisations and projects that will:

• Help more people have a sporting habit for life
• Create more opportunities for young people to play sport
• Nurture and develop talent
• Provide the right facilities in the right places
• Support local authorities and unlock local funding
• Ensure real opportunities for communities

Limelight Sports consultancy team advises brands, sports bodies, charities and government on grassroots sport engagement.

The consultancy team has a deep understanding of the motivators and barriers to participation in sport and an extensive network of national, regional and local contacts across charities, government and sports bodies. We combine this insight and understanding with expertise in brand management and exceptional innovation and creativity. This means we can develop integrated grassroots sports solutions which excite, engage and interact with a range of audiences.

Our works spans the following areas:

• Market Analysis
• Audit
• Idea generation
• Concept development and stakeholder engagement
• Market testing

The possible involvement of Limelight sports (or similar "commercial" organisations) is not about them getting involved in "traditional orienteering events". It's about growing participation in orienteering* at a faster rate than we have managed to previously, by involving an organisation that has a track record of success in attracting and retaining participants.

* orienteering here might be a very different sort of "orienteering" to that which some of you recognise!

[deebee]

Any of the Limelight staff ex Sport England employees by any chance

[aiming off]

So to be clear, here the potential outcome would be that the development funder, Sport England, believes that some or all of any future "orienteering" development budget would be more likely to achieve their goals if given to a third party, as opposed to BOF.

Can't see that any of the existing Limelight portfolio yet reflects this business model. Would orienteering be a "guinea pig" here?

Existing members of BOF would not necessarily be strong stakeholders in the direction that is taken here, as wouldn't BOF be effectively sidelined and incapable of representing the members interests , even if working in "partnership" with the third party provider?

I fear unfettered Government policy driving the direction of travel down this route. So I really hope our National Governing Body can maintain control here, and given that some of the 2013-17 objectives really play to our strengths, should be capable of delivering without third party assistance.

[SeanC]

This might work. If you have 1000 people at a one of these "orienteering like things", then you've found quite a chunk of the local market of people who might be interested in orienteering ready to listen to publicity about mainstream orienteering. It's expensive and difficult to reach these people normally.

[frostbite]

This might work. If you have 1000 people at a one of these "orienteering like things", then you've found quite a chunk of the local market of people who might be interested in orienteering ready to listen to publicity about mainstream orienteering. It's expensive and difficult to reach these people normally.

Except that the Sport England money that would have gone to BOF is diverted to this new form of orienteering - and if it is achieving Sport England's aims (making more people get active) then they will be happy. They have no interest in people moving from orienteering-lite to real orienteering.

[mikey]

This might work. If you have 1000 people at a one of these "orienteering like things", then you've found quite a chunk of the local market of people who might be interested in orienteering ready to listen to publicity about mainstream orienteering. It's expensive and difficult to reach these people normally.

I wonder how many of the 5000 who did the Melbourne Romp (a quasi O event organised by Limelight though no mention of O in any of the publicity as far as I can see) went on to go to a real O event?

Or does it matter..call it orienteering...boost participation numbers...Sports England in happy..Limelight is happy...

[EddieH]

It is becoming readily apparent why so many sports break up into 2 or more governing bodies.

I am increasingly concerned by what I have seen coming from BOF over the past 2 years. This would be the last straw for many I suspect.

[mharky]

Devolution is the way forward

[madmike]

Devolution is the way forward

that is bollocks we have that fudge already - sure you mean Independence