Identifying Financing strategies in Iran's Professional Sports

The purpose of this study was to identify the financing straregies in professional sports. The methodology of this research was qualitative with the phenomenological approach and the required information was obtained, using documentary studies and semi-structured interviews. The research statistical population was university professors with specialization in sports management, economics, and entrepreneurship, sport's senior managers and career professionals, and senior managers of corporations and investment funds. The sampling method was non-random and purposeful. We continued interviews with experts to reach the theoretical saturation (20 interviews). As a result of analyzing the data on financing strategies in Iran's professional sports, three main categories, 14 sub-categories and 115 concepts or open codes were identified. Asset-based financing strategies consist of location-based financing, debt-based financing, capital-based financing, partnership-based financing, and gift-based financing; Sports revenue sources consisting ofadvertising, sponsoring, TV rights, match day revenue, goods and services based on brand, athletes and fans and also operational components including executive actions and optimal ownership as the most important strategies in professional sports of Iran were proposed. Awareness of these strategies puts a clear roadmap for the implementation of the desired model of financing in Iran's professional sports for the country's sports authorities.