Identifying the Effective Factors on the Management of Iranian Basketball Club Fans

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the management of fans of Iranian basketball clubs. The present study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative research using the grounded theory method. The population included top-level managers of the basketball federation, sports management specialists, coaches, experts, and elites aware of the research literature in the field of basketball. The statistical sample consisted of 14 members of the qualitative community, to achieve theoretical saturation of the semi-structured interview. The research measurement tool in the qualitative section included a semi-structured interview. The reliability of the interviews was 0.78 by the method of intra-subject agreement. To analyze the data, a continuous comparison method was used during the three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. According to the results, 178 codes were obtained in the open coding stage, and 9 axes were identified in the axial coding stage. Finally, 9 factors were identified: welfare facilities, fan center, safety and security, cultural and social, information technology, design and aesthetics of stadiums, marketing, relationships, and evaluation.