The sports industry policies in China are essential instruments for guiding the sector’s development, promoting quality improvement, and bolstering China’s position as a sports powerhouse. This study comprehensively examines provincial-level sports policy documents from 2010 to 2024, utilizing the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model and social network analysis to investigate policy evolution and thematic shifts over time. Despite significant progress, the sports industry faces structural imbalances, limited innovation capacity, and the need for tailored policy responses. Methodologically, this research applies advanced text analysis techniques to identify core themes and developmental trajectories in policy content, analyzing data from 103 official documents across various policy stages. The results reveal that: (1) policy themes are decreasing in number but are increasingly specialized and focused; (2) policy emphasis has shifted from broad coordination to precise, field-specific improvements, aligning with evolving economic and social needs; (3) policy evolution follows multiple trajectories, incorporating aspects such as industry planning, financial incentives, market expansion, service optimization, and collaborative innovation. These insights contribute to the discourse on high-quality development in China’s sports industry and highlight strategic policy recommendations, such as refining planning directions, deepening policy content, and standardizing industry practices.