IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v33y2025i6p8479-8498.html

Game Plan for the Planet: A Systematic Look at Sustainable Development in Sports Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Kinga Banucha
  • Katarzyna Szopik‐Depczyńska
  • Giuseppe Ioppolo

Abstract

This systematic literature review identified and explored key sustainable development practices in professional sports organizations. The review begins by presenting the broader context, emphasizing the growing relevance of sustainability initiatives within the sports industry. It shows how professional sports organizations, as influential entities with large fan bases and extensive operational reach, are uniquely positioned to contribute to environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The PRISMA protocol was used to systematically identify, filter, and analyze the most relevant articles that met predefined criteria. The analysis focused on factors such as year of publication, journal type, geographical distribution, and keywords, along with their co‐occurrences (using VOSviewer). This multi‐faceted approach allowed the understanding of the current state of research and practice in the field. The undertaken analysis revealed notable patterns, emerging trends, and, most importantly, examples of possible best practices implemented by sports organizations. These practices ranged from sustainable infrastructure design to community engagement initiatives, reflecting a growing recognition of the need to integrate sustainability into sports management at various levels. The findings highlight the existing gaps in the research that could guide further advancements in this field. It also emphasizes the necessity of further studies to expand understanding, refine best practices, and facilitate the broader implementation of sustainable development initiatives across diverse sporting contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinga Banucha & Katarzyna Szopik‐Depczyńska & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2025. "Game Plan for the Planet: A Systematic Look at Sustainable Development in Sports Organizations," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 8479-8498, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:8479-8498
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70098
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70098
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.70098?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Talent Moyo & Rodney Duffett & Brendon Knott, 2020. "Environmental Factors and Stakeholders Influence on Professional Sport Organisations Engagement in Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility: A South African Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Kathy Babiak & Sylvia Trendafilova, 2011. "CSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 11-24, January.
    3. Ricardo Roseira Cayolla & Teresa Santos & Joana A. Quintela, 2021. "Sustainable Initiatives in Sports Organizations—Analysis of a Group of Stakeholders in Pandemic Times," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Sylvia Trendafilova & Kathy Babiak & Kathryn Heinze, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability: Why professional sport is greening the playing field," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 298-313, July.
    5. Åse Jacobsen & Morten Kringstad & Tor-Eirik Olsen, 2021. "Extraordinary Funding and a Financially Viable Football Industry—Friends or Foes? A Norwegian Football League Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ine Hugaerts & Jeroen Scheerder & Kobe Helsen & Joris Corthouts & Erik Thibaut & Thomas Könecke, 2021. "Sustainability in Participatory Sports Events: The Development of a Research Instrument and Empirical Insights," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Virginia S. Harrison & Michail Vafeiadis & Joseph Bober, 2022. "Greening Professional Sport: How Communicating the Fit, Proximity, and Impact of Sustainability Efforts Affects Fan Perceptions and Supportive Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Niccolò Maria Todaro & Gianluca Gionfriddo & Owais Ur Rehman Khan & Tiberio Daddi, 2025. "Enablers and Constraints of Environmental Sustainability Integration: A Structuration Perspective on Professional Sports Organizations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 8620-8648, November.
    4. Ha Junsheng & Muhammad Mehedi Masud & Rulia Akhtar & Md. Sohel Rana, 2020. "The Mediating Role of Employees’ Green Motivation between Exploratory Factors and Green Behaviour in the Malaysian Food Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Rongtitya Rith & Riccardo Spinelli, 2024. "Examining the X factor of corporate social responsibility in professional football clubs: An integrative literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3487-3501, July.
    6. Kinga Ráthonyi-Ódor & Éva Bácsné Bába & Anetta Müller & Zoltán Bács & Gergely Ráthonyi, 2020. "How Successful Are the Teams of the European Football Elite off the Field?—CSR Activities of the Premier League and the Primera División," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-31, October.
    7. Dumitru Rares Ciocoi-Pop & Iuliana Boros-Balint & Marius Alin Baciu, 2025. "Sport and Sustainability Reporting: Assessing the Readiness of Sports Clubs in the Balkans," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 27(70), pages 921-921, August.
    8. Sartore-Baldwin, Melanie L. & McCullough, Brian, 2018. "Equity-based sustainability and ecocentric management: Creating more ecologically just sport organization practices," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 391-402.
    9. Ricardo Roseira Cayolla & Teresa Santos & Joana A. Quintela, 2021. "Sustainable Initiatives in Sports Organizations—Analysis of a Group of Stakeholders in Pandemic Times," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Tayebeh Zargar & Steven Rynne, 2023. "The Corporate Social Responsibility Sport Model: Grounded Theory Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    11. Silvânio da Silva Gomes & Julio Cesar Ferro de Guimarães & Jakson Renner Rodrigues Soares & Carla Santos Borba & Vilmar Antônio Gonçalves Tondolo & Viviane Santos Salazar, 2025. "Innovation in Services and Environmental Practices: An Analysis of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Hospitality Sector in Brazil," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Wei Peng & Baogui Xin & Yekyung Kwon, 2019. "Optimal Strategies of Product Price, Quality, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-24, November.
    13. Halkos, George & Nomikos, Stylianos, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility: Trends in global reporting initiative standards," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 106-117.
    14. Al-Shaer, Habiba & Uyar, Ali & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Do shareholders punish or reward excessive CSR engagement? Moderating effect of cash flow and firm growth," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Edoardo Bigolin & Rudy Rossetto & Filippo Corsini & Marco Frey, 2025. "The Integration of the Water‐Energy‐Food Nexus Framework Into Corporate Sustainability Strategies: A Systematic Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(6), pages 7490-7509, November.
    16. Tarcia Camily Cavalcante Quezado & Nuno Fortes & William Quezado Figueiredo Cavalcante, 2022. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics on Brand Fidelity: The Importance of Brand Love and Brand Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Cristina Aibar-Guzmán & Carmen Serrano-Valdecillos & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán, 2022. "Analysis of the Dialogue with Stakeholders by the IBEX 35 Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-26, February.
    18. Luiz Diego Vidal Santos & Francisco Sandro Rodrigues Holanda & Catuxe Varjão Santana Oliveira & Alceu Pedrotti & Pedro Vinícius Bertulino Menezes & Ana Paula Schervinski Villwock, 2023. "Purchase intention of Amazon sustainable brands: a hybrid approach of structural equation modeling and Rasch model," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(12), pages 1-29, December.
    19. Felipe Arenas-Torres & Miguel Bustamante-Ubilla & Roberto Campos-Troncoso, 2021. "The Incidence of Social Responsibility in the Adoption of Business Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, March.
    20. Mansoora Ahmed & Sun Zehou & Syed Ali Raza & Muhammad Asif Qureshi & Sara Qamar Yousufi, 2020. "Impact of CSR and environmental triggers on employee green behavior: The mediating effect of employee well‐being," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2225-2239, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:8479-8498. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.