Communication Strategy as a Key Driver for an International Sport Federation: The Case of World Athletics

International Federations (IFs) in the sports sector, despite non-profit status, play a crucial role in administering and promoting sports globally. This chapter focuses on World Athletics, analysing its economic-financial communication as a strategic tool to enhance a positive cycle of increased revenues and investments. Utilising content analysis of the 2020–2022 annual reports, the study explores how operational transparency in financial statements contributes to heightened fan engagement and commercial revenues. The findings illustrate that comprehensive communication strategies positively impact both fan involvement and financial prosperity for World Athletics, highlighting the effectiveness of economic-financial communication in achieving strategic goals within non-profit sports organisations. The results therefore highlight how in general a non-profit organisation can exploit communication to improve both the image and economic results.