When Tarvi Pürn steps into his office at the Tallinn Sports Center, he doesn’t just manage facilities, he manages a movement. In a country where sport and identity have long been intertwined, his mission is to bring structure, strategy and sustainability to a system that has grown rapidly but unevenly. For Estonia, and especially for Tallinn, this is about more than sports budgets and buildings. It’s about building a smarter, more connected sports ecosystem that balances public service, community needs and financial responsibility.
The numbers tell part of the story. Estonia’s sports funding, around € 7 million for top-tier teams such as Olympic squads, looks modest beside Denmark’s €20 million. But the context matters: Estonia’s population, size and priorities differ. And so does its approach. Pürn, who has worked both at the Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Olympic Committee, understands these nuances better than anyone. He sees the challenge not in the amount of money, but in how it is structured, distributed and used.
Since January 1, a major institutional merger has transformed how the capital manages its sports infrastructure. Seven separate organizations have been combined into one entity: the Tallinn Sports Center. The consolidation was necessary, but far from easy. It meant redefining roles, letting go of 22 employees (roughly ten percent of the workforce) and creating new positions focused on development, construction and strategy rather than only daily operations. The result is a leaner, more coherent system that oversees 22 sports centers, from the iconic Tondiraba Ice Hall to local swimming pools and football pitches scattered across the city’s districts.
Tallinn’s sports system runs like a small city within a city. About 60 percent of its operating budget comes from self-generated revenue (ticket sales, memberships, rentals) while the rest is funded by the municipality. This balance pushes Pürn’s team to think like entrepreneurs as much as civil servants. Every square meter of space counts and every facility needs to serve multiple audiences, from schoolchildren to elite athletes, from seniors to corporate groups.
Across Tallinn, there are 584 sports facilities, nearly evenly split between indoor and outdoor and between public and private ownership. Football, swimming and gymnastics dominate youth participation, but Estonia’s Olympic medals often come from niche sports such as fencing and rowing. Disciplines that don’t always get the spotlight in facility planning. Basketball, so deeply woven into Estonia’s culture, faces its own paradox: it remains a national passion, yet registration numbers, especially among girls, remain low. That gap, Pürn believes, reflects not a lack of interest but a need for better coaching quality and club structures.
One of the city’s most fascinating assets is its school infrastructure. Many school gyms and pools have been privately renovated, improving quality but creating legal gray zones around ownership and access. Some remain technically private until renovation debts are repaid, complicating public use. Meanwhile, Tallinn’s outdoor facilities, from football pitches to parks and multi-use courts, are thriving especially in summer. The city’s renovated 100-year-old outdoor swimming pool, filled with natural spring water, has become a symbol of how history, sustainability and community engagement can coexist.
Still, there are gaps. Indoor space remains scarce and new investments must make financial sense. To bridge the shortfall, Tallinn is turning to innovative public-private partnerships. The idea is simple but bold: allow private companies to use 30–40 percent of the land for business purposes (cafés, gyms, offices) while ensuring the rest remains dedicated to sports. In return, operators commit to maintaining the facilities and reserving peak hours for public use. One ice rink contract, for example, guarantees access for children between 15:00 and 21:00, balancing community service with commercial sustainability.
These long-term, 50-year partnerships are rewriting the city’s investment playbook. Private operators carry maintenance costs, the public gets accessible facilities and both sides share the benefits. It’s a pragmatic model for a small country with big ambitions, but not without challenges. Some venues, like Tallinn’s 5.000-seat ice arena, are underused, serving mainly recreational skating instead of major events. For Pürn, optimizing utilization is a daily puzzle: “The infrastructure is there,” he often says, “but the system must work smarter, not just harder.”
“..., Tallinn is turning to innovative public-private partnerships.”
Digitalization is key to that smarter future. Currently, facility bookings in Tallinn are often managed manually, leading to inefficiencies and frustration for clubs and citizens. A new digital booking platform, combined with CRM tools, financial management and AI-driven planning, is being developed to modernize how people access and use public sports spaces. This transition from analog to digital is as much cultural as technical; a mindset shift toward service, transparency and user experience.
At the heart of this transformation are the people. The new organization employs 238 staff, many of whom work in roles such as cleaning and administration. Keeping them motivated while demanding higher performance is no small feat. Leadership is investing in training, internal communication and a clearer value proposition. Technology will eventually reduce some manual work, particularly during low-traffic hours, but human presence remains essential, especially for child safety and community interaction.
Beyond the operational realm, Tallinn is also experimenting with new programs to reach different audiences. Daytime sports sessions for corporate employees and seniors aged 65+ are being tested as part of a broader effort to make facilities active throughout the day, not just in evenings or weekends. The challenge lies in balancing accessibility with cost recovery: offering free or heavily subsidized programs creates inclusion, but it also tests financial limits. Pürn’s philosophy leans toward sustainability: every initiative should generate either health value or economic value. Ideally both.
Estonia’s sports governance model adds another layer of complexity. The Ministry of Culture, the Olympic Committee and various federations share oversight of ethics, funding and development. The Center for Integrity in Sports, jointly funded by the government and the Olympic Committee, handles anti-doping, match-fixing and abuse cases, operating an anonymous reporting hotline. Coaches must meet strict qualifications within a five-level education system that prioritizes pedagogy, ethics and youth protection. It’s a small but tight network that aims to ensure quality and accountability across the sector.
Meanwhile, debates continue about how best to structure national governance. Estonia’s Olympic Committee currently oversees both elite and recreational sport. A model that differs from many European countries, which separate these roles. Some advocate for re-integration under a new leadership model to streamline decision-making, while others warn against losing focus on grassroots development. Local governments like Tallinn play a crucial role in bridging the two, managing youth participation while national institutions fund elite pathways.
Through it all, Tarvi Pürn remains pragmatic yet optimistic. He knows that structural reform is slow and sometimes painful, but he also believes in the power of focus. For him, success is not about building more facilities, but about using what exists more intelligently. It’s about digital tools, strategic partnerships and a workforce that understands its purpose. And it’s about turning sport from an administrative system into a living, breathing part of urban life.
Tallinn’s transformation offers a lesson that resonates far beyond Estonia: in the world of sport, sustainability and innovation are not opposites, they are teammates. When passion meets pragmatism, even a small city can play in the big leagues.
Tarvi Pürn director Tallinn Sports Center @ City of Tallinn