Nature and Characteristics of the Sport Industry and its Current Trends Impacting the Industry

摘要

Global competition for fans and other stakeholders have caused increased pressures to maintain sport organizations' power and influence through e-commerce and social media. The ever evolving nature of sport managing research demands a reexamination of some of the major trends in the discipline that are impacted directly/indirectly by electronic mediation and its technology, especially social media. Although there are numerous trends that are occurring in sport management as a discipline, but this study concentrates on the role of ecommerce within organizations. The major trends examined are commercialization of sport, the role of mass communication to appeal to the needs of users, the need of engagement by fans, and the social needs for sports to deal with the epidemic of physical inactivity of the populace.