The role of sports on destination branding: A bibliometric study

The role of sports in place branding is growing interest in literature. To orientate future research on this topic, the present paper aims: (a) to measure the visibility and impact of the scientific production on the topic, and (b) to identify the scientific structure by research themes, as well as its evolution in two different periods. To this end, 135 papers linking sports with a destination image were retrieved from the Web of Science. Two periods were compared (2003–2012; 2013–2022). Our results show future research opportunities for (a) new small-scale sporting events beyond big mega-events; (b) residents’ perspective beyond tourists’ approach, (c) sports focused on minority audiences beyond football and the Olympics, (d) studies focused on European countries, beyond Brazil, China, USA and Israel; (e) a higher focused on sports teams and clubs beyond sports events; and (f) attention to public administrations responsibilities beyond private companies.