The role of sports journalism in modern media

Special attention is paid to the analysis of the functioning of sports journalism as a specific segment of the modern media space. The aim of the work is to identify the role of sports journalism within the structure of mass media and to determine the features of its transformation in the context of the digitalization of the media environment. The research relies on data from Brand Analytics and Medialogia ratings for 2024–2025. Four groups of subjects of the sports journalism system have been identified: creators of information triggers, information producers, content consumers, and external influencing parties. A functional structure has been revealed, including information, educational, socializing, recreational, integrative, and ideological components. It has been established that sports journalism simultaneously serves as a tool for socialization and a commercial product. Empirical analysis shows stable positions of specialized sports publications in the citation ratings of Russian-speaking media resources. The dominance of multimedia platforms over traditional print media has been identified. The presence of betting platforms in top ratings has been recorded, indicating the commercialization of sports content. The main trends of digital transformation are highlighted: multimedia, interactivity, mobility, and synchronization of publications with events. It has been established that digitalization leads to audience fragmentation and blurs the boundaries between professional journalists, experts, and fans. The methodology includes a functional analysis of the sports journalism system, an examination of empirical data on the citation of specialized media resources, and an institutional analysis of the interaction between subjects of the information process. The study relies on data from Brand Analytics and Medialogia ratings for 2024–2025. The main conclusions of the conducted research are that sports journalism, in the context of digitalization of the media environment, acquires a pronounced multifunctional character, combining informational, sociocultural, integrative, and commercial tasks, and demonstrates stable adaptation to changes in the technological and communication infrastructure of contemporary society. The strengthening role of multimedia platforms, interactive formats, and synchronous distribution of content has been established. A special contribution of the author to the research topic is the systematization of the structure of sports journalism and the institutional features of the interaction between media structures, sports organizations, commercial actors, and the audience based on the comparison of theoretical propositions and empirical media indicators. The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive understanding of the influence of digital and commercial factors on the transformation of sports media content, as well as in revealing the role of sports media in the processes of forming national and regional identity.