Abstract: With the national free trade development strategy and policy as the background, combined with the the situation and requirements of current sports industry, especially the innovation and development of sports service industry, the paper, depending on the methods of literature, expert interviews and field research, elaborates the important role of sports service trade in the process of constructing a sports industry power and promoting the innovation of sports industry. It reviews the relevant research results of the international sports trade and sports service industry and analyzes the cross-disciplinary attribute of sports service trade and the important research value. It points out the research methods and implementation path of sports service trade, providing a new theoretical support for the research and further development of sports industry service.

Key words: sports economy, service trade, development, path