The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment in the Sports Industry: Mechanisms and Coping Strategies

The digital economy is witnessing artificial intelligence (AI) fundamentally reshaping the employment landscape of the sports industry. Economically, the impact is reflected in the way AI’s “techno-economic” characteristics reshape the labor market, driving an upgrade in the employment structure of the industry’s internal sectors, while also leading to market polarization and shifts in employment models. AI’s impact manifests through substitution, creation, and intertemporal effects, resulting in a dynamic employment equilibrium characterized by a spiral ascent and wave-like progression. Current risks arising from AI’s impact on employment in the sports industry include: structural imbalances in the workforce, widening income disparities, an underdeveloped social safety net for flexible workers, and urgent challenges in algorithmic governance. Addressing these challenges requires strengthening vocational training, promoting multi-stakeholder collaboration, improving social security and protection systems, and refining the regulation of algorithms.