Investigating the Attitude of Sports Managers in Markazi Province towards Marketing

Nowadays achieving financial and supportive resources is one of the main concerns of sport boards, which necessitates a proper attitude in marketing sphere. The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the attitude of sport boards' managers towards sports marketing as a preface to carry out operational activities.  The statistical population consisted of all board of directors of sport boards of Markazi province as well as managers and authorities who worked at Markazi Sports administration and other offices in the city. The total number of the population were considered as the sample and 104 researcher-made questionnaires were analyzed. The questionnaire contained 47 questions. The questionnaire’s reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha (0.94) and its validity was confirmed by university professors and experts. To analyze data, descriptive and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-sample t-test, Friedman, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations) were utilized using the 22nd version of SPSS and SmartPLS software. The results identified eight factors that were named in accordance with the nature of the research as follow: performance assessment, pricing, competitiveness, having a plan and a goal, human resources, attitude towards market (environment), marketing strategy, customer oriention. The results showed that the mean obtained in all factors was above average. The overall measurement results of the model, such as the Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), indicated that the proposed model was appropriate. It is recommended that Sports boards’ members pay special attention to these factors.