The effect of customer relationship management on the performance of sports clubs through the mediating variable of intellectual capital

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of customer relationship management on the performance of sports clubs through the mediating variable of intellectual capital. This research is of a descriptive-survey type, in terms of practical purpose and field data collection method. The statistical population studied in this research included all managers, trainers, and employees of sports clubs in Ramsar City. The statistical sample was selected by random sampling. The size of the statistical sample was determined to be 80 people. In order to collect information, the customer relationship management questionnaire of Kalantari and Tolo (2009), the intellectual capital of Bontis (1998), and the performance evaluation of Shafiei et al. (2012) was used. In order to check the validity of the content of the questionnaire, experts (sports management professors) were used. The reliability of the tool was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha method (0.93) and construct validity. Findings were analyzed using SPSS and PLS software at the level of P≤0.05. The results showed that the variable of customer relationship management directly has a positive and significant effect on intellectual capital (0.809); However, the direct effect of customer relationship management on the performance of clubs (0.809) was not significant. Also, the effect of intellectual capital on the performance of clubs (0.955) is directly positive and significant. Therefore, to improve the performance of sports clubs, it is better for club managers to focus on improving communication with their customers and strengthening their intellectual capital.