Sustainability in Sport: Sport, Part of the Problem … and of the Solution

Abstract

Sport is one of the most popular social activities in the world. It is also one of the most thriving industries from an economic standpoint. The sport sector is at the crossroads of economic, political and social issues. For this reason, sport organisations have to consider sustainability as a major concern. When facing such major issues (environmental protection, social connections, the concern of business for society), sport can appear as the “most important insubstantial thing”. But it could be seen both as the best and the worst example in terms of sustainability. This article addresses two complementary objectives. The first one is to provide an overview of the current state of sustainability-in-sport research over the last 20 years and demonstrate how this field became a major topic in the last 10 years. This has been done through a systematic search of existing academic research concerning sustainability in sport. The second is to offer an explanation of how the field of sport currently manages different sustainability-related issues. This has been accomplished by interviewing an industry panel, which also gives some perspectives for the future.