Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Management, Qom University, Qom, Iran
2
MA Student, Department of Management, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences ,University of Qom, Qom, Iran.
10.22091/its.2025.13410.1020
Abstract
This research aims to design a model for innovative financing in the sports industry, focusing on the role of fintechs. In this research, two quantitative methods, fuzzy Delphi and interaction analysis, were used to identify, screen, and evaluate the effective factors of innovative financing in the sports industry. First, by systematically reviewing the literature and obtain-ing opinions from experts, who were 10 experts in the field of innovative financing and the sports industry, 30 main factors were identified. Then, these factors were screened using the fuzzy Delphi method, and 10 factors with a defuzziness number above 0.7 were selected for the final analysis. In the next step, by using interaction analysis, the degree of influence and impact of these drivers was examined to determine the most important fac-tors affecting innovative financing in the sports sector. This study is quan-titative and applied, and the research sample was selected purposefully and judgmentally from among experts with at least ten years of experience in the relevant fields. The simultaneous use of literature review, expert opin-ion, expert questionnaires and impact assessment has ensured the validity and reliability of the collected data. The research results showed that the drivers of sports startup empowerment, raising capital through smart fintech, new revenue models with data analysis, smart contracts in trans-fers or sponsorships and the use of blockchain in financial transparency are the five factors affecting innovative financing in the sports sector, focusing on the role of FinTechs. Also, other factors such as tokenization of sports assets, use of cryptocurrencies and raising capital through crowdfunding platforms also played a significant role. The policy recommendations pre-sented focus on the key effective drivers and include supporting infrastruc-ture such as specialized accelerators in the field of sports and fintech, ac-cess to seed capital and tax exemptions for innovators in the sports indus-try, encouraging the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in sports data analysis. ... The results of this research can serve as a basis for policymaking to support sports startups, attract venture capital, and devel-op the digital sports economy, especially in a situation where financial agil-ity and transparency in resource allocationare considered competitive ad-vantages for sports clubs and institutions.
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