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This study explores how AI-driven social media influences Chinese university students’ involvement in sport events. A questionnaire survey of 455 students across 207 universities measured AI-driven social media use, sport-viewing habits, emotional expression, sport fan behaviour, and event involvement. Structural equation modelling and bootstrapping were employed to test direct, mediating, and chain mediating pathways. Results showed that AI-driven social media had a significant direct effect on sport event involvement, while sport-viewing habits exerted a negative mediating effect. In contrast, emotional expression and sport fan behaviour jointly produced a positive chain mediation effect. These findings highlight the dual role of AI technologies in both enhancing and potentially hindering behavioural engagement, enriching theories of sport communication, and providing practical guidance for sport promotion and platform design in higher education contexts.