Mapping the evolution of sports public services: key contributors, themes, and impacts

This study analyzed trends in Sports Public Services research from 1939 to 16 January 2024. Its objectives were to identify (1) the growth and trends of publications, (2) the most productive contributors, (3) the highly cited documents, and (4) the essential keywords and themes in this field. Data was collected from the Scopus database using keywords like “sports public services,” “community public sports,” and “sports civil services,” resulting in 576 documents. The data were analyzed using biblioMagika, biblioshiny, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel. The highest number of publications occurred in 2017 and 2020. The most prolific contributor was García-Fernández (10 publications), while the University of Valencia accounted for 4.34% of publications. English was the dominant language (73.61%), and Spain was the leading country (423 publications). “Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in Service” by Bodet G. was the most cited article. Network visualization identified seven key themes: comprehensive wellness through sports, innovative strategies, service quality perceptions, evaluation frameworks, sports business and marketing, community engagement, and sports policy. The study recommended conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) to further investigate the impact of Sports Public Services on satisfaction.