Investing in Sports Facilities: The Italian Situation Toward an Olympic Perspective. Confidence Intervals for the Financial Analysis of Pools

Given the current economic crisis, there is a lack of investments also for public sport facilities, which are vital to the urban quality of the city and the quality of life of its citizens. The situation is serious in Italy, especially after the failure of public policies for funding of major events (World Cup, 1990; Winter Olympics, 2006). Some recent laws (147/2013) have revived the sector with particular attention to the medium size facilities but have neglected the small structures that represent the basic activities. In case of the latter, a convergence of objectives is needed between public administrations and private investors. Therefore, public authorities should think in terms of sustainability and investment performance, a perspective that involves the private sector. The research extends the knowledge framework for the financial outline of investments in the sector of swimming pools, starting with a technical and financial analysis of 18 case studies and building confidence intervals for the relevant variables.