In the context of the 2026 sports budget, one of the passion generators is the Latvian National Sports Center (LNSC). With the sports budget shrinking by 4 million euros, a 400,000-euro grant is planned for the LNSC with a unique rationale – to promote accessibility.
In short:
- LNSC manages the Daugava stadium complex, the team sports hall, the Sigulda ice rink, the tennis center “Lielupe” and Kleistus.
- In the cross-section of the year, the state capital company has a turnover of 3.8 million euros and a loss of 740 thousand euros.
- LNSC board chairman Daniels Nātriņš explains that they pay their bank loan themselves.
- Often, state-owned sports facilities stand out with higher prices than private companies, which is said to be because they have to cover maintenance costs, as well as those facilities that have been recently built are the most modern on the market, so they would be more expensive to rent, according to Nātriņš.
- Jānis Žīdens, a lecturer at the Academy of Sports Pedagogy of Latvia, believes that there should be both a common point of view and common criteria for the whole country.
The state capital company manages the Daugava stadium complex, the team sports hall, the Sigulda ice rink, the tennis center “Lielupe” and Kleistus.
“We have 3.8 million euros [apgrozījums] and losses of 740 thousand euros. But it must be understood that amortization and interest payments are included there.
We service our own bank loan, unlike other infrastructure objects in the country,” explains LNSC board chairman Daniels Nātriņš.
LNSC’s credit obligations are 12 million euros. Nātriņš points out that state-owned sports facilities fill a gap in the overall infrastructure offer. The amount of the state subsidy against own revenues this year is 12%.
“I think there is a reason why private individuals do not build such sports infrastructure. It is not a very profitable business. As a state-owned company, we are solving this market failure.
We are solving the fact that the infrastructure of this sport is available,” says Nātriņš.
Several state-owned sports facilities stand out with higher prices than private ones. Nātriņš explains this with infrastructure maintenance costs and the fact that a state capital company must not openly go against market principles. In addition, objects that have been recently built are the most modern on the market, so they would also be more expensive to rent. In his opinion, LNSC could one day do without a state grant.
“What we have set ourselves as a goal at the moment is to reduce the losses in those objects, for example, the Sigulda track.
How can we do this? Through promoting the popularity of various entertainment trips,” says the chairman of the LNSC board.
There are various examples of how sports infrastructure is managed in Europe. For the most part, it is built and maintained by local governments, evaluating their individual needs, rather than following a policy set by the state. So, for example, in Slovenia, all sports facilities near secondary schools belong to the state, but individual sports facilities of a national scale are managed by the ministry responsible for the sports sector, with a separate capital company established for each facility, as was once the case in Latvia.
On the other hand, in Finland, state-owned sports facilities have been transferred to the Ministry of Defense, not to the Ministry of Education and Culture, which is responsible for sports. Meanwhile, in Denmark, the sports infrastructure belongs to the municipalities, which are built with the aim of mainly serving the sports interests of the people. A third of the six million inhabitants are members of a sports club. Recently, discussions about the state’s involvement in the construction of sports facilities have also started in Denmark.
“We have one of the best availability of sports facilities in Europe. Even if there have been no requirements or standards, we see that this area is prioritized by municipalities.
However, nowadays, especially around the big cities, where the demand for sports facilities is growing, a discussion begins about whether the state should help? For example, in the Copenhagen region, where there is not so much sports infrastructure,” says Pēters Fošberjs, chief analyst of the Danish Sports Research Institute.
Jānis Žīdens – a lecturer at the Latvian Sports Pedagogy Academy – is currently working on a study on the sports infrastructure in Latvia, where one of the goals is to define goals and priorities in the maintenance and development of the Latvian sports infrastructure.
“There must be both a common point of view and common criteria for the entire country. Municipalities also invest in infrastructure themselves. There must be a very strong bond,” Židen believes.
who advocates a centralized system, but with the stipulation that decisions are made by industry experts, without outside political interference.
It should be noted that the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, which is responsible for sports, is the former footballer Dāvis Mārtiņš Daugavietis, the deputy state secretary is a long-time football official Edgars Pukinsks, and the director of the sports department is the renowned beach volleyball player Aleksandrs Samoilovs.
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