The role and purpose of sport in the context of the development of culture and civilization still remains one of the most important issues of essence-system analysis. Based on the work of a number of outstanding scientists, L.P. Matveev in the second half of the 20th century. completed the creation of a general theory of physical culture and sports, allowing us to understand the essence and purpose of sports activity. However, despite the centuries-old tradition of development of the philosophy of physical culture, we still do not have a scientific socio-philosophical theory of sport that allows us to understand the social essence and basic patterns of the emergence and evolution of sport as an ontological phenomenon, as a social institution. This is precisely the task that the author of this monograph set himself. For researchers, specialists, teachers, graduate students and students of higher educational institutions, everyone interested in the philosophy and sociology of sports.