Identify and Analyze the Drivers That Affect the Pricing of Professional Players in the Iraqi Football Premier League

and determining the right price in any field can lead to a steady stream of revenue, so the purpose of this study was to identify and analyze price-driven drivers of professional players in the Iraqi Football Premier League.

The method of the present study was mixed and its design was harmonization. The statistical population of this study consisted of experts, 15 of whom were selected purposefully and based on theoretical saturation. In order to analyze the qualitative information, three overlapping processes of open coding, axial coding and theoretical coding were used and in a quantitative part, DEMATEL analysis was used.

Findings of this study showed 47 final concepts, 11 sub-categories with the letters of human capital, club efficiency, sports performance, time effects, geographical factors, league characteristics, player behavior, social value, transfer rules, the rule of financial conditions and factors and the four main categories of player characteristics, club characteristics, internal factors and external factors affect the pricing of football players. It was also found that human capital, financial and time effects factors have the greatest impact on explaining player pricing, respectively.

Based on what has been said, it is suggested not emphasizing only a specific factor or an indicator in the evaluation of football players, and trying to examine and to follow the discussion of evaluation and pricing in all aspects.