ABSTRACT
Sport is embed ded in common culture because of the communal tradi tions associ ated with sport and is considered a demo cratic cultural activ ity because it transcends social barri ers (Hughson et al., 2004). Innovation is a feature of sport but is less recog nized in the public policy area as a funda mental way for govern ments to inter act with tech no lo gical advance ments. This is despite innov a tion being referred to as an import ant area of sport policy due to its impact on soci etal advance ment. Sport policy can make a signi fic ant contri bu tion to the innov a tion manage ment discip line due to the variety of ways sport continu ally changes and adapts from soci etal change. In addi tion, studies about sport innov a tion can contrib ute to the sport policy discip line as there is little research about how innov at ive policy-making is conduc ted in sport and how policy spills over from sport innov a tions. This means that sport innov a tion can serve as the initi ation for the devel op ment of policy aimed at intro du cing new things to the prac tice of sport. The chal lenge for sport policy is to accept that there is an inher ent innovat ive capab il ity of sport, which ensures continual change. Sport policy links to other policy areas includ ing educa tion, health and tourism, which makes it import ant to focus on innov at ive capab il it ies of sport services.
