Business Model Transformation Dynamics in the Digital Sports Ecosystem
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23104713Keywords:
Sports E-commerce, E-marketing, Omnichannel Retailing, E-marketplaces, E-sports, Virtual Reality, Data AnalyticsAbstract
The study aimed to analyze the transformation of business models within the digital sports ecosystem, with particular emphasis on the role of e-commerce and digital marketing in contemporary sports management. To this end, a systematic literature review adopted an integrative approach and followed the PRISMA protocol. The bibliographic search covered Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect for the 2010–2026 period, with an updated search conducted before manuscript completion to incorporate publications from 2026 that met the inclusion criteria. The systematic review analyzed 50 studies selected according to the protocol. In addition, theoretical and methodological literature supported the conceptual framework and research design.
The findings reveal a transition that has consolidated over several years, as traditional models increasingly give way to more digital and, in many cases, hybrid configurations. Social platforms, live commerce, data analytics, and immersive experiences all contribute to this reconfiguration. Another prominent finding concerns the interdependence among technological, commercial, and relational dimensions. Rather than evolving along separate paths, these three dimensions intersect and ultimately reshape how the sports sector creates and captures value.
The study's main contribution lies in a systemic conceptual framework designed to articulate these dimensions, as the literature predominantly offers fragmented perspectives that examine each aspect independently. The proposed framework provides an analytical tool for examining both the opportunities and risks associated with e-commerce in the sports sector, with particular relevance when considered from a Latin American perspective.
Downloads
References
Abeza, G., & Bustad, J. (2025). Digital communities in sport. En J. Bustad y G. Abeza (Eds.), Technology, Sport and Recreation (pp. 163–183). Routledge.
Adidas. (2017, 7 de noviembre). Adidas expands digital presence and launches new adidas app [Comunicado de prensa]. https://www.adidas-group.com/en/media/press-releases/adidas-expands-digital-presence-and-launches-new-adidas-app
Alhumud, A. A., & Elshaer, I. A. (2024). Social commerce and customer-to-customer value co-creation impact on sustainable customer relationships. Sustainability, 16(10), 4237. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16104237
Alonso-Dos-Santos, M., Calabuig-Moreno, F., Montoro-Ríos, F. J., & Alguacil, M. (2017). Online sport event consumers: Attitude, e-quality and e-satisfaction. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 12(2), 54–70. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-18762017000200005
Argentina. (2000). Ley N.º 25.326 de Protección de los Datos Personales. Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina. https://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/60000-64999/64790/texact.htm
Baethge, C., Klier, J. & Klier, M. (2016). Social commerce—state-of-the-art and future research directions. Electronic Markets, 26(3), 269–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-016-0225-2
Benfica. (2025). Benfica Immersive: A new immersive digital experience at Estádio da Luz. https://www.slbenfica.pt/en-us/agora/noticias/2025/09/02/clube-benfica-imersivo-lancamento-experiencia-digital-envolvente
Brasil. (2018). Lei n.º 13.709, de 14 de agosto de 2018 (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais – LGPD). Diário Oficial da União. https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2018/lei/l13709.htm
Brown, M. T. (2003). An analysis of online marketing in the sport industry: User activity, communication objectives and perceived benefits. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 12(1), 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/106169340301200106
Capasa, L., Zulauf, K., & Wagner, R. (2022). Virtual reality experience of mega sports events: A technology acceptance study. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 17(2), 686–703. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer17020036
Colombia. (2012). Ley Estatutaria 1581 de 2012, por la cual se dictan disposiciones generales para la protección de datos personales. Diario Oficial No. 48.587. https://www1.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=49981
Chang, Y., Warren, C., & Lee, T. (2024). Virtual reality technology induced flow in the spectator sports context: Empirical examinations of VR flow, its unique antecedents, and consequences. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 33(1), 81–95. https://doi.org/10.32731/SMQ.331.032024.06
Chesbrough, H. (2010). Business model innovation: Opportunities and barriers. Long Range Planning, 43(2–3), 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07.010
Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (4th ed.). Allyn y Bacon.
Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business. Harvard Business School Press.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Deloitte. (2024). Annual review of football finance 2024. Deloitte Sports Business Group. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/Industries/tmt/research/annual-review-of-football-finance.html
DHL. (2017). The 21st century spice trade: A guide to the cross-border e-commerce opportunity. DHL Express. https://www.dhl.com/content/dam/dhl/global/core/documents/pdf/dhl_express_cross_border_ecommerce_21st_century_spice_trade.pdf
DHL eCommerce. (2024). 2024 online purchasing behavior report. DHL eCommerce. https://www.dhl.com/global-en/microsites/ec/ecommerce-insights/insights/reports/2024-online-purchasing-report.html.
DHL eCommerce. (2025). 2025 eCommerce trends report. DHL eCommerce. https://www.dhl.com/global-en/microsites/ec/ecommerce-insights/insights/reports/2025-ecommerce-trends-report.html.
García Bonilla, D. A., Rodríguez Guevara, E. G., & Pineda Ospina, D. L. (2020). El comercio social: Una aproximación conceptual a partir de la producción de conocimiento científico. Pensamiento & Gestión, (49), 172–214. https://doi.org/10.14482/pege.49.658.66
Göbeler, L., Standaert, W., & Xiao, X. (2021). Hybrid sport configurations: The intertwining of the physical and the digital. En T. X. Bui (Ed.), Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 5841–5850). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2021.708
Guo, Q., Liu, S., Kangin, H. C., & Zhang, F. (2025). How does "traffic" turn into "retention"? The path of sport events impacting consumption willingness. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 16(5), 1294–1305. https://doi.org/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2025.05.004
Guzmán Duque, A. P., & Abreo Villamizar, C. A. (2017). Del comercio electrónico al comercio social: La innovación al alcance de las organizaciones. Estudio para el sector calzado Bucaramanga, Colombia. Contabilidad y Negocios, 12(24), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.18800/contabilidad.201702.006
Hajli, N. (2015). Social commerce constructs and consumer's intention to buy. International Journal of Information Management, 35(2), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.12.005
Impact Commerce. (2019). A global and digital growth adventure with hummel [Caso de estudio]. https://impactcommerce.com/insights/a-global-and-digital-growth-adventure-with-hummel/
Jayasingh, S., Girija, T., & Arunkumar, S. (2022). Determinants of omnichannel shopping intention for sporting goods. Sustainability, 14(21), 14109. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114109
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Dirección de marketing (15.ª ed.). Pearson.
Kwon, Y., Park, J., Cho, G., Kim, D., Kang, M., & Yang, D. (2026). High-tech, high-touch physical education: Drone soccer as a sustainable sport activity for sport-marginalized students. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, 1787499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1787499
Lee, C., & Lhotsky, G. (2025). Digital transformation of traditional sports. En J. Bustad y G. Abeza (Eds.), Technology, Sport and Recreation (pp. 120–134). Routledge.
Li, S., Zhang, Y., Tang, Y., Zhao, W., & Yu, Z. (2025). Impact mechanisms of consumer impulse buying in accumulative social live shopping: Considering para-social relationship moderating role. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 20(2), 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20020066
México. (2010). Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares. Diario Oficial de la Federación. https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFPDPPP.pdf
McKinsey & Company, & World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry. (2022). Sporting goods 2022: The new normal is here. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/sporting-goods-2022-the-new-normal-is-here
MMA Global, & GroupM. (2021). Modern marketers' guide to connected consumer journeys 2021. MMA Global https://mmaglobal.com/documents/modern-marketers-guide-connected-consumer-journeys?utm_source
Mohammadi, S., & Dickson, G. (2024). Online shopping for sporting goods: The role of flow, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty. Global Business Review, 25(6), 1498–1509. https://doi.org/10.1177/09721509211019516
Neslin, S. A., Grewal, D., Leghorn, R., Shankar, V., Teerling, M. L., Thomas, J. S., & Verhoef, P. C. (2006). Challenges and opportunities in multichannel customer management. Journal of Service Research, 9(2), 95–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670506293559
Oliveira, P. (2019). A new virtual reality experience for Portuguese football [Tesis de maestría, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics].
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation. John Wiley & Sons.
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Parker, G. G., Van Alstyne, M. W., & Choudary, S. P. (2016). Platform revolution: How networked markets are transforming the economy. W. W. Norton & Company.
Perú. (2011). Ley N.º 29733, Ley de Protección de Datos Personales. Diario Oficial El Peruano. https://www.gob.pe/institucion/congreso-de-la-republica/normas-legales/243470-29733
Prabowo, S. A., Marsudi, I., Siantoro, G., Yuhantini, E. F., Ristiawan, B., Khuddus, L. A., Afandi, A., Rizki, A. Z., & Ayubi, N. (2026). Digitalization accelerates sport industry in last decade: Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. Sportis: Scientific Journal of School Sport, Physical Education and Psychomotricity, 12(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.17979/sportis.2026.12.1.12302
PwC. (2024). PwC’s Global Sports Survey (8th ed.): Sports industry: On track for growth? PwC. https://www.pwc.ch/en/insights/sport/sports-survey-2024.html
Qu, Y., Mao, Z., Zhang, J., Liu, Z., & Liu, Y. (2023). Impulse buying tendency in live-stream commerce: The role of viewing frequency and anticipated emotions influencing scarcity-induced purchase decision. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 75, 103534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103534
Rahman, A., Khan, M. I., & Rifat, M. M. H. (2024). BScFilter: A deep learning approach for sports comments filtering in a resource constraint language. En M. S. Kaiser, R. Singh, A. Bandyopadhyay, M. Mahmud, y K. Ray (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Trends in Computational and Cognitive Engineering (TCCE 2023) (pp. 35–46). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1923-5_4
Ratten, V. (2020). Sport technology: A commentary. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 31(1), 100383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hitech.2020.100383
Rochet, J.-C., & Tirole, J. (2003). Platform competition in two-sided markets. Journal of the European Economic Association, 1(4), 990–1029. https://doi.org/10.1162/154247603322493212
Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. World Economic Forum.
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Strauss, A., y Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications.
Tajvidi, M., Richard, M.-O., Wang, Y.-C., & Hajli, N. (2020). Brand co-creation through social commerce information sharing: The role of social media. Journal of Business Research, 121, 476–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.06.008
Tajvidi, M., Wang, Y., Hajli, N., & Love, P. E. D. (2021). Brand value co-creation in social commerce: The role of interactivity, social support, and relationship quality. Computers in Human Behavior, 115, 105238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.006
Tsai, H. C., Wei, C. W., Tang, F. P., Peng, K. Y., & Tung, H. H. (2025). Promoting digital resilience and healthy aging: Older adults' experiences with intelligent exercise. Digital Health, 11, 20552076251384225. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251384225
Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T.-P., & Turban, D. (2015). Electronic commerce: A managerial and social networks perspective (8.ª ed.). Springer.
Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46(2), 186–204. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.46.2.186.11926
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K., & Inman, J. J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing: Introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2015.02.005
Wang, K. (2025). Dynamic prediction of adolescent sports injury probability based on the improved ARIMA model in the background of digital physical education teaching. Scientific Reports, 16, Article 1903. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31591-0
Whittemore, R., & Knafl, K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x
Xiang, X., Xiong, J., & Cai, X. (2024, junio). A study of tennis match momentum based on Markov chain and conditional Bayesian hybrid models. En 2024 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Image Processing and Computer Applications (ICIPCA) (pp. 1849–1854). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIPCA64096.2024.10800628
Xiao, X., Hedman, J., Tan, F. T. C., Tan, C.-W., Clemmensen, T., Lim, E. T. K., Henningsson, S., Mukkamala, R. R., Vatrapu, R., & van Hillegersberg, J. (2017). Sports Digitalization: A Review and A Research Agenda. En ICIS 2017 Proceedings. Association for Information Systems (AIS). https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/General/Presentations/6
Zhang, H., Lu, Y., Gupta, S., & Zhao, L. (2014). What motivates customers to participate in social commerce? The impact of technological environments and virtual customer experiences. Information & Management, 51(8), 1017–1030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2014.07.005
Zhang, K. Z. K., & Benyoucef, M. (2016). Consumer behavior in social commerce: A literature review. Decision Support Systems, 86, 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2016.04.001
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Edy Lorena Burbano-Vallejo, Álvaro Andrés Coral-Vallejo, Julián Eduardo Castillo Prado, Carolina Daza Escobar, Claudia Andrea Duque Castillo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
