Identification and Ranking of the Dimensions of the Sports Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Iran

Experience has shown that entrepreneurship requires an appropriate groundThe term “entrepreneurial ecosystem” has spread as the third generation of entrepreneurial literature.Since, the Iranian sports industry is of a good position in terms of job creation potential and is an example of complex entrepreneurial ecosystem, thus the main objective of the present study was identifying and ranking the dimensions of the Iran's sports entrepreneurial ecosystem.the research methodology was a combination of applied development, namely descriptive-survey was interconnected (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of data type. In the first step, a multi-aspect approach was used, including literature review, evaluation of the best associated methods, studying the successful patterns of entrepreneurial ecosystems in different fields and the current state of the country's sports industry, and a deep interview with 31 sports experts and elite sports managers as well as active entrepreneurs in the field of sports. Then, using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) method, these factors were reduced to 24 factors with a significant effectiveness coefficient, and were classified into 6 main dimensions. Finally, the study results revealed that, using the AHP method, the dimensions of the sports entrepreneurial ecosystem could be ranked in six main dimensions of political, supportive, local and global markets, cultural, financial capital, and human capital Iran’s sports industry is a complex and dynamic ecosystem. Therefore, it is suggested to develop the road map of the sports entrepreneurship along with strategies and plans compatible with the sports entrepreneurship in the country’s sports perspective document.