This concise and thought-provoking book examines the myths and realities surrounding the value of sport. It asks a fundamental question: what is it about sport that leads to grand claims about its supposed capacity to do so many good things for society?

Examining the evidence from sport around the world, at all levels, the book challenges the commonly held, uncritical assumptions about the value of sport. It looks closely at the claims that sport is likely to improve physical and mental health and social cohesion or that there are demonstrable economic benefits to local communities and positive legacy effects from international sporting events and elite athletic successes. Adopting a value-adding perspective, the book argues that governments and policy-makers must strip away the myths, be more critical in their thinking, and recognise the counter-argument that sport is also associated with negative effects, whether that’s the opportunity costs of allocating public funds to sport or the social harms for which sport can be responsible, such as drug use, violence, misogyny, racism, injury, or abuse. The book presents a broad-based framework for assessing the value of sport that focuses on citizen well-being, where a mix of collaborative public and self-organised regulation is used to help sport avoid becoming an infamous case study in market failure.

Presenting fresh thinking on an important topic, this book is essential reading for anybody working in sport policy, sport governance, sport management, or wider public policy spaces.

Bob Stewart is a professor and policy consultant in the not-for-profit sector, having had 25 years of experience teaching and researching in the sport management field of study at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, where he was the sport management programme director.

Aaron C.T. Smith is Professor and Director of the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UC-RISE) and Professor of Sport Business and Innovation in the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London.