The Rise of Social Media in Sport: A Bibliometric Analysis

Social media has revolutionized the sports industry by changing the way athletes, coaches, clubs, federations, sport companies and other industry actors interact. Although academic interest in the emergence of social media in the context of sports has increased in recent years, these platforms have not been studied from a bibliometric viewpoint. Therefore, this study examined the scientific production of social media in sports using descriptive bibliometric software. The most prolific authors, journals, institutions, number of citations and networks of authorship are identified. From the bibliometric analysis, implications for sport managers and future research directions for social media in sports are stated.