Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Sport Management, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
2 Department of Sport Management, Isf.C. Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
Abstract
In the third millennium, the sports industry is confronted with unprecedented challenges arising from the interconnection of environmental crises, severe economic fluctuations, and geopolitical tensions, all of which seriously threaten the continuity of its value chain and the sustainability of sporting events. The present study aims to identify key driving forces and to design a forward-looking model to enhance the adaptive capacity and survival of the sports ecosystem in the face of these fundamental changes. The research adopts a mixed-methods (qualitative–quantitative) exploratory approach. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 20 experts, including professors of strategic management and senior executive managers in the national sports sector, and were coded using thematic analysis. In the quantitative phase, strategic variables were identified and the structural relationships within the system were analyzed using a cross-impact matrix and MICMAC software. The qualitative findings indicate that the resilience of the sports industry is built upon four main pillars: infrastructural adaptation to climate change, financial agility and independence from government budgets, active sports diplomacy, and digital transformation. The results of the structural analysis further reveal that the system is in an unstable state, and that five key drivers—climate-resilient reinforcement of sports facilities, diversification of digital foreign-currency revenues, deployment of artificial intelligence for risk monitoring, flexible network-based governance, and international coalition-building—exert the greatest influence on the future of the system. The final conclusion emphasizes that, in order to navigate future shocks, sports organizations must move beyond reactive approaches.
Keywords
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