Sportification and environmental impacts of modern sports

This book chapter serves as an introduction to explore the tensions between modern sport’s constant pursuit of increased performance and the growing need for environmental sustainability in the sports sector. Climate change is already reshaping many sports, particularly winter sports that increasingly depend on artificial snow, indoor facilities, and technological adaptation. The authors propose that the dominant “sportification” logic of modern sport, one that is centred on growth, performance, rationalisation, and competition, may itself contribute to unsustainable environmental impacts and conflict with local, national and global sustainability goals.

Many environmental problems in sport are linked to long-term processes of sportification, including increased specialisation, technological dependence, standardisation, and commercial growth. At the same time, the authors suggest that sport organisations could integrate environmental concerns into the core logic of sport, much like ethical limits already imposed on doping or equipment regulations.

The authors conclude that sport must move beyond a narrow focus on performance and growth if it wants to remain sustainable in the future. They call for an “environmentalisation” of sportification, where ecological considerations become embedded within the organisation, regulation, and culture of sport itself.

CITE: Svensson, D., Backman, E., Hedenborg, S., & Sörlin, S. (2023). Balancing performance and environmental sustainability. In: Sport, performance and sustainability, pp. 3-18. Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.4324/9781003283324-2