Theory in Sport Management: Insights and Applications aims to serve as a comprehensive resource for understanding, applying, evaluating, and developing theory in sport management.

Recognizing theory as the foundation of scholarly inquiry, evidence-based practice, and effective teaching, the book provides readers with the theoretical foundations and practical guidance needed to engage with theory more effectively. Designed for students, scholars, educators, and practitioners, the book brings together 45 chapters authored by leading sport management scholars from around the world. Each chapter examines a major theory through a consistent structure that includes an overview of the theory, its application across disciplines, its use within sport management, and recommendations for future research and practice. The Recommendation section that concludes each chapter serves as a practical guide for readers seeking the theory most relevant to their work, pointing toward typical applications and promising directions while presenting each theory in its full nuance by the contributor who knows it best. The book demonstrates how theory can be used to explain sport phenomena, guide research, inform teaching, support decision-making, advance scholarship, and shape future developments in the field.

As one of the most comprehensive theory-focused volumes in sport management, this edited collection offers an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand and leverage theory in sport.

Gashaw Abeza is an Associate Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Kinesiology at Towson University. His research focuses on marketing communication, particularly digital media within the sport context. He has published scholarly works examining theories in sport management.

Jessica R. Braunstein-Minkove is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Towson University. Her research is two-fold, focusing on sport marketing, addressing consumer behavior, sport branding, and brand management, and sport pedagogy, assessing high impact practices and other innovative and developmental pedagogical practices.

Norm O’Reilly is a Professor of Sport Management at the University of Florida. His research focuses on marketing analytics, sponsorship, social media, sport finance, social marketing, tourism marketing, and management education.

Kwame J. A. Agyemang is a Professor of Sport, Organizations, and Society and the George and Betty Blanda Endowed Professor in Sport Leadership at the University of Kentucky. His research currently focuses on impact-focused investments in African sport, not only as business ventures but also as ways to build skills and capacity for individuals, organizations, and broader systems.