Identification and Prioritization of Factors Influencing the Development of Fan Culture in the Iranian Premier League

The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the factors that influence the development of fandom culture in football sport. The research method is exploratory mixed method which is done in two parts: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative section, factors influencing the development of advocacy culture were identified and categorized through content analysis and semi-structured interviews with 15 experts and experts selected through purposive sampling. In the quantitative part, a purposeful method was measured through a hierarchical analysis method and through a questionnaire the views of the participants about the priority of the factors influencing. The results showed that factors influencing include factors such as professionalism, affiliation, cultural contexts, social contexts, media platforms, infrastructures, quality, shared identity, brand identity and individual values. Among the cultural substrates with a relative weight of 0.130, the most important factor was media platforms with a relative weight of 0.128, common identity with a relative weight of 0.11, infrastructure substrates and quality with a relative weight. Based on the results, it seems that the fandom culture is based on different factors, and each of these factors play a different role in explaining the fandom culture and paying attention to these factors by the organizers of football matches will lead to the development of fan culture, improve the quality and dynamism of the Iranian Football Premier League, and consequently lead to increase spectator satisfaction and prevent their violent behavior, and improve the security of football stadiums.