Identifying the Components of the Football Commercialization in Iran

This research was conducted with the aim of identifying the components of football commercialization in Iran using a mixed exploratory method (thematic analysis and Delphi). The panel members, selected based on the purposeful sampling method, are 42 people. As the findings revealed, eight themes were identified as the final themes, including 1. Prevalence of buying, selling, and pricing the football players; 2. Materialization of most activities in society; 3. Providing financial resources for the activities related to football; 4. Individual motivations of football players; 5. Profit-seeking motives of dealers; 6. Media and virtual space; 7. Dimension of football business and trading, and 8. Consequences of football commercialization. Then, these themes were judged by the experts and specialists in two rounds (Delphi), and the results showed that 12 components for the factor of football commercialization; 14 components for the factor of the motivation of sports clubs and institutions in football commercialization; 12 components for the factor of the motivation of football players in commercialization of football; 11 components for the factor of the motivation of media institutions and companies in the process of football commercialization; 17 components for the factor of football commercialization results, were agreed upon by the experts and specialists. The findings showed that most of the activities related to football are done only for the sake of earning money and for its economic aspect, and football commercialization is affected by economic and financial factors.