To Identify the Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak on the Sport Industry

Coronavirus epidemics around the world have had many positive and negative effects on communities and their activities. The aim of this study was to identify the effects of coronavirus outbreak on the country's sports industry. The present study is an applied research in terms of purpose. The research approach is qualitative, which has been done by the systematic method of Grounded Theory; The statistical population of the present study includes university professors and experts, producers of sports' products, supervisors and secretaries of sports federations, managers of sports clubs of Premier League, managers, deputies and officials of the Ministry and sports and youth departments and managers of sports complexes. A total of 18 people were considered as snowballs and targeted as a research sample. The data collected in this study by in-depth and semi-structured interviews were from participants and they were asked to comment on the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on the sports industry. Data analysis was performed using open, axial and selective coding to calculate the first and second level categories (axes) and their relationship. Based on the results of the analysis of the findings of the interviews, the final two dimensions of the effects of coronavirus outbreak on the dimensions of the sports industry were identified, which included direct and indirect effects. Accurate identification of the effects of coronavirus outbreak on the sports industry can help the process of adapting the activities of this industry to the current situation.