Sport in Society

Sport and Business in Emerging Nations

The objective of the special issue of Sport in Society is to advance interdisciplinary understanding of sport and business in emerging nations, examining how commercial interests, organizational practices, and business institutions interact with society. We invite contributions from scholars and practitioners.

We welcome contributions that question established assumptions, explore underrepresented contexts, and develop new understandings of how sport-related business practices shape. The special issue welcomes qualitative studies, comparative case studies, ethnographies, interviews, historical analyses, critical discourse analyses, and theoretically grounded conceptual contributions. We welcome submissions addressing the following themes and related areas. The topics are indicative rather than exhaustive, and contributions that connect multiple themes are encouraged.

 International Business and Sports

• Globalization and the changing political economy of sport in emerging nations.
• International sports brands, market expansion, and local cultural identities.
• Cross-border investments, strategic partnerships, and ownership of sporting organizations.
• Global sporting leagues and the localization of business practices.
• International sporting events, national aspirations, and development priorities.
• Postcolonial perspectives on global sport business and institutional power.
• Global value chains, labour mobility, and inequalities in the sports industry.

Human Resource Management in Sports

• Athlete careers, career transitions, and post-sport employment.
• Gender, caste, class, race, and other forms of inequality in sporting work.
• Talent identification and development in socially and economically marginalized communities.
• Migration, mobility, and the experiences of international athletes and coaches.
• Athlete welfare, work-related vulnerabilities, and the responsibilities of sporting organizations.
• Human resource practices and their implications for dignity, equity, and social justice.

Finance and Sports

• Public and private investment in sporting infrastructure and events.
• Sponsorship, broadcasting rights, and the commercialization of sport.
• Financial sustainability and the survival of local sporting organizations.
• Resource inequalities between elite sports and community-level participation.
• Sports entrepreneurship, alternative financing, and community-led sporting initiatives.
• Investment in women's sports and historically underrepresented sporting disciplines.
• Financial practices, institutional power, and the marginalization of less commercially attractive sports.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sports

• Sport-for-development initiatives and their implications for local communities.
• Corporate sponsorship, social legitimacy, and the public image of sport.
• Sport as a means of promoting gender equality and social inclusion.
• Community participation and local responses to sports infrastructure development.
• Environmental responsibility and the social consequences of major sporting events.
• Corporate accountability, stakeholder engagement, and community rights.
• The tensions between commercial objectives and social development.
• Greenwashing, social washing, and the limits of corporate responsibility in sport.

Ethics in Sports

• Ethical governance, accountability, and transparency in sporting organizations.
• Corruption, match-fixing, and the integrity of sporting institutions.
• Athlete exploitation, safeguarding, and human rights.
• Gender discrimination, harassment, and unequal treatment in sport.
• Commercial pressures, sponsorship, and conflicts of interest.
• The ethics of hosting major sporting events and developing sports infrastructure.
• Business interests, political influence, and decision-making in sport.