The purpose of the presented article was to study the complex of reasons that caused significant quantitative and qualitative changes in the system of physical culture and sports printing in the USSR at the turn of the 192©0s-1930s. The relevance of addressing this topic is predetermined by the search for effective mechanisms for propaganda, organization and coverage of the mass sports movement. The main research method is historical and typological analysis, which allows reveal-ing the general patterns of transformation of various types of physical education and sports publications in close relationship with the factors of political, economic and cultural life of Soviet society. Publications of periodicals about physical culture and sports, as well as archival documents related to the activities of leading sports orga-nizations were taken as sources. As a result, a key factor in the transformation of the physical culture and sports press system was identified - the general restructuring of the Soviet physical culture movement, which led to a significant expansion of the audience, the setting of new tasks and the transformation of the typological image of the press. Further development of the physical culture and sports press in the 1930s followed the path of centralization and rigid planning.