Barriers to Implementing Innovation in the Sports Clubs during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Approach for the Future Crises

The purpose of the present study was to identify barriers to implementing innovation in sports clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research approach was mixed. In the qualitative part, interviews with 13 owners of sports clubs were conducted. The statistical sample in the quantitative part, based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), included 200 sports club owners in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran. The results showed that barriers to implementing innovation in sports clubs were individual, structural, and environmental obstacles. Considering the entrepreneurial ecosystem and all stakeholders involved in the sports community, providing favorable conditions such as intellectual property protection, financial support, research, and development support, as well as improving access to financial capital, can pave the way for the creation and implementation of sports innovations in clubs, especially in crises.