This Sunday’s World Cup final match between France and Italy is expected to draw in an estimated 1 billion viewers and ignite the passions of as many more.
And UK residents, which have watched teams compete in Wimbledon, the Open golf championship and the World Cup from their couches this summer, could be inspired enough by the competitions to put a halt to their inactivity and spend an estimated GBR4.65 billion on sports and fitness.
Participation in sports commonly sees major increases during the summer months following the television broadcasts of major sporting events, and in the UK there is no exception.
But as Brits rush out to purchase new sports equipment or join a new club they may also turn to a new insurance policy being offered through Barclays Insurance.
The policy will cover sports equipment that becomes unusable because of accidental damage or theft and will also cover memberships to clubs that become unusable because of injury.
“Many of us spend most of our sporting life sat on the couch watching sport on the TV, but at this time of the year we dip in our pockets to buy new equipment, join clubs and then expect to see a brilliant return for our investment,” says Mark Till, marketing director for Barclays Insurance. “However, broken equipment and pulled muscles are more often the outcome. It might not stop a tennis racket getting broken in a McEnroe moment or a Rooney-sequel broken metatarsal, but it will cover you for it.”