ABSTRACT
The sport industry is a compet it ive market in which innov a tion is import ant for its sustained success (Ratten, 2010). Sport innov a tion is import ant to organ iz ations, indi vidu als and govern ments due to the import ant role sport has in the global market place. Despite the growing popular ity of sport-related innov a tions there has been minimal progress in theory devel op ment unify ing the field. This lack of unify ing frame work for sport innov a tion makes it diffi cult to progress research and estab lish its legit im acy in the manage ment research field. There is research about sport and innov a tion but there is a discon nect in provid ing sport innov a tion as a theor et ical frame work. This chapter discusses the way sport innov a tion can provide a school of thought for under stand ing the way innov a tion in the sport context is differ ent to other contexts. This will enable research ers, prac ti tion ers and public policy plan ners to use sport innov a tion theory to identify prob lems and suggest solu tions in the inter con nec ted global busi ness world.
