Determining the Strategies of Innovation in the Sport clubs Based on the Blue Ocean Approach

The purpose of this paper was to determine the innovation strategies in sports clubs based on the Blue Ocean approach. The study was a qualitative and purposeful one. For data collection, library studies, interviews and Delphi questionnaires were used. The statistical population was professors of sport management of universities, sport specialists and sport entrepreneurs in Khuzestan province. Using purposive sampling method, 17 person in the first round, 29 in the second round and 27 in the third round of Delphi panel participated in the study. Due to the degree of convergence, the Delphi approach ended in the third round. The findings showed that according to the decision-making model of the four actions in the Blue Ocean approach, including strategies of creation, incremental strategy, reduction strategy and elimination strategy, activities that sports clubs did not address and should be based on strategy creation, included charitable social partnerships and the creation of advertising campaigns. Based on the incremental strategy, the activities that sports clubs should invest in and compete with included increasing use of creative exercise approaches. According to the downsizing strategy, activities that the sports clubs had to reduce included reducing financial costs by using creative approaches and retaining former sports club customers, and ultimately eliminating strategies, including activities that sports clubs should not to do including wrong training activities and training mistakes in sports clubs and eliminating delays in providing services to sports club stakeholders.