Accelerating the Digital Transformation of Sports Governance in China’s Construction of a Leading Sports Nation: Mechanisms, Challenges, and Breakthroughs

The digital transformation of sports governance serves as both a fundamental guarantee for building a sports power and a crucial driver in realizing the modernization of national sports governance. On the basis of combining the needs of the construction of a leading sports nation, this paper comprehensively uses literature analysis, comparative analysis, case study and other methods to theoretically explore the digital transformation of sports governance. The study concludes that the digital transformation of sports governance can lead to a shift from fragmented to integrated governance systems, a transformation from governance techniques to technological governance in terms of governance content, and a transformation from static unidirectional to dynamic multidirectional governance models. However, the practical implementation of digital transformation in sports governance still faces challenges,including imbalances and inadequacies in governance systems, evolving issues and expanding scopes in governance content, and logical ambiguity and structural tensions in governance models. To address these challenges, it is recommended to innovate digital sports governance systems and enhance institutional adaptation, prioritize the people-centric nature of digital sports governance and strengthen content adaptation, and foster a harmonious “human-technology relationship” in digital sports governance to improve model adaptation. These efforts will synergistically advance the digital transformation of sports governance in China and accelerate the construction of a sports power.