“…In particular, Downward et al 2014, as well as Dallmeyer et al (2017) have shown a positive direct relationship between sport-related government expenditure and sport participation. This fundamental correlation has been, however, nuanced by other studies showing that its existence may depend on the target group (Hoekman et al, 2017;Lera-López et al, 2016), kind of sport activity (Hoekman et al, 2017;Humphreys & Ruseski, 2007), and the funding type, size and consistency (Dallmeyer et al, 2018). Moreover, in some regional settings the relationship may not hold (Kokolakakis et al, 2014) which may be due, inter alia, to prioritisation of elite sport in the face of austerity measures at the local level (Wicker & Downward, 2017).…”