Global sport in the post-COVID era

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic upended the global sport landscape, leaving the sports world at a crossroads. In many ways, the sport industry has recovered and embraced new approaches to commercialism, diversification, and growth. On the other hand, critics and activists have called for a new vision of sport, one that requires a renewed commitment to fighting corruption, profiteering, sportwashing, and injustice. In this issue, we explore these contentious and competing interests from various perspectives. Will the enormous growth in women’s elite sport lead to changes that finally unlock barriers for girls and women around the world? Now that we know a world without mega-events in sport, can we reshape sport with a genuine commitment to reducing the damaging social, economic, and environmental impacts of such events? Social justice movements, led by indigenous people and anti-racism activists, seek to seize this moment to reimagine sport in the public sphere. Yet the unyielding march of gigantism continues, picking up where it paused as the pandemic began. In this article and SportsWorld special issue, we focus on the challenges and immense possibilities emerging in the post-COVID era of sport.