In modern times of Industry 4.0, digital solutions are used in an increasing number of branches of the economy, and this also applies to sports. Generational cohorts provide a way to understand how different life experiences affect people’s views of the world. There is a new growing group of sports fans—modern fans—who have been functioning in the digital world since birth, and therefore have their specific behavioral patterns, habits, and expectations. For this reason the sports industry must adapt properly to continue to develop. This article aims to identify how consumers representing various generations on the Polish market consume sports products provided by digitized channels. The study focused on three areas: the source of information about the sport, devices on which consumers watch sports and the evaluation of the attractiveness of sports products (full games, game highlights and behind the scenes). The study was conducted in the form of an online survey in 2021, and 581 Polish volleyball fans took part in it. The results indicate that younger generations are more likely to get sports information from social media and less likely to watch games on TV than older generations.

The primary purpose of the article is to present the level of sport participation in Poland and other European Union countries. Moreover, the article discusses the definitions of individual terms related to sport, determinants of physical activity and plans of increasing participation in sport in Poland and across the European Union. The article uses data provided by extensive public opinion polls as well as by abundant Polish and English literature on the subject. The results of the research show that in Poland, when compared to the European Union, a lower percentage of people are actively involved in sport. However, it can be noted that in recent years there has been a growing interest in physical activity in Poland.

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Career success and physical activity are often treated as two very separate domains. However, an increasing number of publications indicate that being physically active affects various aspects of life, including professional work. It is possible to distinguish at least a few ways in which engaging in sport influences professional work, including the development of advantageous competencies, such as teamwork skills and the ability to achieve goals. These competencies allow for the building of social capital and have a positive effect on physical and mental health. The article examines the relationship between physical activity and career success in Poland. The research involved the use of the Social Diagnosis database and found that practicing sport is related to the level of a person's earnings and their job satisfaction. These two factors are important because they are indicative of career success. The study concludes that practicing sport may contribute to career success.

Should sports clubs be managed by former professional athletes? There is a belief in the sports world that team management is a mystery, something that only former players can understand. Some studies indeed indicate that practicing sports may actually predispose a person to also performing managerial functions. The aim of the research was to verify if former professional football players do better than other people as coaches of football clubs. The interest in this topic was due to the fact that like a top manager in a company, a coach is a very important figure in the football club and sport is an important part of the global economy today. The research was based on the top Polish football league – Ekstraklasa. The study covered the years 2015-2020 and during this period, a total of 46 head coaches worked in the analyzed clubs. The results indicate that owners of football clubs often hire former successful athletes, and in the research group their average results were better than others. Keywords: former professional players, management in football, team performance