Sport communication is defined as “a process by which people in sport, in a sport setting, or through a sport endeavor, share symbols as they create meaning through interaction” (Pedersen, Miloch, & Laucella, 2007. p. 196). Over the past two decades, research in sport communication has grown significantly as the size of the sport business industry has risen sharply, from $213 billion at the end of the 1990s to approximately $600 billion in 2018 (Plunkett Research, 2019), resulting in the creation of discipline journals (e.g., International Journal of Sport Communication, Communication & Sport), textbooks (e.g., Strategic Sport Communication (Pedersen, Laucella, Kian, & Geurin, 2017), Sport Public Relations (Stoldt, Dittmore, & Branvold, 2012), and theory/review papers (e.g., Abeza, O’Reilly, & Nadeau, 2014; Filo, Lock, & Karg, 2015; Hambrick, 2017, Pedersen, 2013; Pedersen, Laucella, Miloch, & Fielding, 2007).
The importance of sport communication is also evident as the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation, a specialized accrediting body in the field of sport management, lists sport communication as one of the four core functions of sport management along with sport marketing, sport finance/economics, and sport operations (COSMA, 2019). Pedersen (2013) asserts, “sport cannot exist without communication” (p. 57). Communication in sports is indeed a unique and essential aspect of sport industry as business entities involving in the sport industry utilize marketing communication via varying mechanisms (e.g., mass media, social media, public relations) to promote products/services, share information, repair organizational image, etc.
Thus far, considerable knowledge has been developed. For instance, Pedersen and his associates (2007) defined the field of sport communication in their position paper. Pedersen (2013) also reflected on how communication interplays within the sport environment. Soon after, a series of theoretical papers were published to propose future scholarly directions by integrating previous studies related to marketing communications in sports (e.g., Abeza, O’Reilly, & Nadeau, 2014; Abeza, O’Reilly, Seguin, & Nzindukiyimana, 2015; Filo, Lock, & Karg, 2015).
Most recently, Hambrick (2017) investigated the evolution of sport communication studies via social network analysis. Although concerted research efforts have advanced scholarly inquires in this discipline, the pace of evolution of marketing communications due to technological advancement requires further attention to the digital and interactive nature of marketing communications in sports. Thus, there is a particular need to explicate complex phenomena as they pertain to marketing communications in sports. Consistent with the aims and objectives of JIA, this special Issue intends to seek contributions that critically examine, debate, and shed light on new perspectives in digital and interactive marketing communications in sports. We are especially interested in theoretical, empirical, and critical analyses focusing on a wide spectrum of issues regarding interactive communication issues in sports.
