Research on the Coupling and Coordination of the Sports Industry and the Ecological Environment

Abstract Against the backdrop of global sustainable development and the “dual carbon” goals, this study takes Fujian Province as a case study, employing a “coupling coordination-spatiotemporal evolution-mechanism diagnosis” analytical framework and methods such as entropy value analysis and coupling coordination models to explore the interactive relationship between the sports industry and the ecological environment from 2013 to 2023. The results show that the coupling coordination degree between the two increased from 0.17 in 2013 to 0.85 in 2023, exhibiting a phased characteristic of “policy-driven - scale expansion - quality optimization.” Spatially, coastal cities outperform inland areas, forming a “coastal uplift zone–inland depression zone” distribution, with insufficient cross-regional coordination. Among the driving factors, the explanatory power of science and technology fiscal investment increased from 0.52 in 2014 to 0.79 in 2018 but dropped to 0.40 in 2022, highlighting the need for innovation-driven transformation. The study provides a basis for the ecological civilization pilot zone to achieve “sports ecologization and ecological industrialization” and has reference value for similar regions globally.