Sports Industry 5.0: reimagining sport through technology, humanity, and sustainability

The sports industry faces converging pressures from digitalization, climate change, and social demands for inclusion and well-being. Existing "Sports 4.0" approaches emphasize efficiency and performance but mostly overlook broader social goals. This paper introduces Sports Industry 5.0 as a conceptual framework that adapts the principles of Industry 5.0 to sport. Unlike prior accounts, we argue that Sports Industry 5.0 is not only an extension of technological innovation but also a reorientation toward human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience across all levels of sport, from elite to grassroots and eSports. The article synthesizes interdisciplinary literature and global examples, while critically addressing risks such as surveillance, greenwashing, and inequities of access. Tables illustrate how Industry 4.0 and 5.0 principles diverge in sports, and case illustrations show how these ideas can be operationalized. We conclude by outlining future research directions, including comparative case studies and cross-cultural analyses, to assess whether Sports Industry 5.0 can function as a universally relevant paradigm.