Providing a Comprehensive Model for the Development of Sports Marketing

In the present era, development in professional sports is considered a symbol of a country's power, and undoubtedly, sports marketing guarantees the survival and growth of professional sports. Therefore, this research aimed to provide a comprehensive model of sports marketing development using a mixed-method approach. In the qualitative section, conducted with the Grounded Theory and Glaser's approach, the participants consisted of stakeholders in the research field (university professors, sports marketing researchers, senior managers of federations and prominent sports clubs) in 2021. Fifteen semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, and the data obtained from the interviews were analyzed through open, selective, and theoretical coding in three stages. Additionally, second-order factor analysis was used to confirm the identified factors in the qualitative section, validating 128 concepts, 24 sub- category, and 9 main categories. The results showed that the phenomenon of sports marketing development is influenced by various factors, which can be categorized into 9 groups: capital structure, transformation management, strategic operational alignment, process efficiency, information dissemination network, marketing doctrine, governance and management structure, resource allocation, and legal and research compliance. Among the practical aspects of this model, we can mention the identification of the target market, analysis of competitors, determination of competitive advantage, raising the level of difference and differentiation of products and services, and determination of marketing channels more accurately and appropriately.