Abstract
The quantity of recognized National Sports Industry Bases (NSIBs) serves as a robust indicator for measuring the level of agglomeration of sports enterprises and sports-related projects, collectively termed as sports brand resources, within a given region. This paper utilizes various methodologies, including the nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse analysis, and GeoDetector, to examine the spatial evolution characteristics of NSIBs in Chinese urban agglomerations. The study focuses on four primary aspects: distribution pattern, distribution density, spatial orientation, and influencing factors. The findings uncover several significant trends: Firstly, during the initial phase of sports brand resource development in Chinese urban agglomerations, the spatial distribution exhibited random dispersion characteristics, which subsequently evolved into a statistically significant clustering pattern. Secondly, sports brand resources in Chinese urban agglomerations have transitioned from a dispersed distribution to a more concentrated structure overall, although spatial distribution remains highly uneven. Thirdly, the center of gravity of NSIBs has shown a dynamic migration pattern, shifting from "northwest-northeast-southwest," with the development disparity between eastern and western regions, as well as between southern and northern regions, gradually narrowing. Fourthly, factors such as the economic foundation, potential market, and policy environment significantly interact with other variables to drive the development of sports brand resources.