Abstract: Based on the number, discipline distribution, document types and language distribution of sports law papers cited in CSSCI from 2003-2012, the paper conducts an empirical analysis on the influence factors of sports law researches and the researchers’ knowledge structure. The average citation number of sports law papers is lower than that of law papers. There are some disciplines that create more influences on sports law researches, which are law, economics and sports science. The cited papers are mainly in the form of papers and monographs with insufficient influence on the part of textbooks. English is the main language in the citation of foreign language literature without Germany and Japanese counterparts. Sports law researches have achieved significantly but there are also some problems waiting to be solved. Therefore, we have to pay attention to and regulate China’s sports law researches from perspective of the knowledge structure.

Key words: sports law, paper citation, influence factors