Artificial intelligence in sport: applications, political economy and research agendas

Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a significant technological priority across the sport industry; yet, scholarly engagement with its implications remains underdeveloped relative to the pace of adoption. This commentary pursues three interrelated objectives: to advance conceptual clarity regarding what AI is and how it operates; to examine its functional applications across key operational domains of sport organizations; and to surface the structural, ethical and governance dimensions that remain underexplored in existing scholarship. Design/methodology/approach This work presents conceptual commentary based on integrative review and critical analysis of existing literature. Findings Drawing on a five-category typology spanning descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, generative and agentic AI, the work maps applications across fan engagement, sport media, sponsorship, stadium operations and administrative functions. It further develops a political economy perspective that examines data ownership, organizational capabilities, competitive dynamics, structural inequality and labor market consequences as conditions shaping AI adoption in sport. The work argues that AI integration in sport is not a neutral process, and that rigorous, critically oriented scholarly inquiry is both necessary and urgent before the imperatives of adoption become institutionally embedded and resistant to scrutiny. Originality/value The value of this commentary lies in its integration of a political economy perspective into AI-in-sport discourse and its articulation of a structured research agenda that identifies key theoretical and empirical directions for future work.