What do we mean when we say ‘sport’?

Abstract

This article examines the evolving historiography of ‘sport’ vis-à-vis the British Society of Sports History (BSSH), as per fluid and shifting definitions of what the term ‘sport’ means. It begins by discussing broad themes within the previous historiography of UK sport. Afterwards, it roughly quantifies the content of articles the BSSH’s journal The Sports Historian/Sport in History during the period 1993–2021, with an emphasis on sporting forms and emerging trends. Finally, the author provides a similar discussion of the topics of conference papers at annual meetings of the BSSH during the period 2011–21. Throughout this article, the author, Chair of the Society from 2017 to 2019, attempts to provide some causal explanations for why certain sporting forms are popular points of discussion, how others are pushing the envelope of the term ‘sport’, and issues therein.