The Role of Privatization in the Development of Public Sports Participation

Sport, and especially public sports, is very important because it increases life expectancy by promoting community health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of privatization in the development of participation in public sports in Alborz, Iran. This study was a mixed research (qualitative and quantitative). In the qualitative phase, the participants included 12 university faculty members and public sports administrators. In the quantitative section, 384 people were selected as a statistical sample based on Morgan table. Amiri et al.'s Privatization Questionnaire (2013) and a researcher-developed questionnaire were used to measure the research variables. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that privatization has a critical role in the development of participation in public sports in Alborz province. Therefore, expansion of the role and position of the private sector is one of the actions that can be taken in this field. It is suggested that sports, health and well-being officials seriously consider privatization in order to facilitate and increase the participation in public sports.