Sport is a complex and contradictory phenomenon of our time. The relevance of this study is due to the need to answer a number of questions related to determining its place among the values of modern society and person, identifying the possibility of realizing the humanistic potential of modern sport, as well as the most significant problems of its development in the context of globalization. These questions are related to the study of the influence of sociocultural factors on the development of sport. The purpose of this article is to study the influence of national traditions, the social structure of society, as well as globalization processes on the development of sport. It is shown that sport is a reflection of the national systems within which it developed. It is noted that the essence and significance of sport changes under the influence of sociocultural factors. Sport not only reflects a certain value system of society, but also popularizes and strengthens it. It is able to form its own subculture, values that differ from the generally accepted ones, from the values of other components of the sociocultural system. It is shown that modern trends in the sport development such as individualization, massification, desacralization, rationalization, and universalization are consistent with the main provisions of the concept of global development of A. de Benoist. It is emphasized that in the context of globalization, the values of traditional sport are being transformed, which leads to the dehumanization of the sport movement, the dominance of a technocratic style of thinking, to the politicization, commercialization of modern sport, the use of doping to improve sports results, etc. The globalization of sport has become a kind of cultural intervention that encroaches on national traditions and foundations. The positive and negative impact of mass media on the sport development is noted. On the one hand, they promote popularization of sport, and on the other, turn it into a consumer product. The subject of sale and consumption now is not only a sport spectacle, sport equipment, but also the athletes themselves, their image, lifestyle, and moral principles. It is hoped that the formula “unity in diversity” will become a natural axiom not only for the development of sport, but also for the whole of humanity