Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Master of Sports Management, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Ferdowsi University, Khorasan Razavi, Iran.

2 Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Human Sciences, Technical and Vocational University (TVU), Khorasan Razavi, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran.

Abstract

Purpose: Coronavirus has affected all sectors of the global economy, but particularly the sports industry, given its social nature, is affected by the Covid Crisis. Therefore, the research aims to analyze the entrepreneurial and innovative sports opportunities in the corona and post-corona crises.
Methodology: Research is applied based on its purpose. The method of this research was qualitative and based on grounded theory. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 14 research experts. The research samples were selected using the snowball method. Then, the results of the interviews were analyzed using Max QDA software and based on the coding method with a structuralism approach. The review and monitoring were performed periodically to ensure the accuracy of the extracted codes
Findings: The research categories were divided into four main groups: 1- Supply and demand conditions, 2- Production factors, 3- Competitive context and strategy of the firm, and 4- Related and supporting industries.
Originality: Findings show that sports innovation and opportunities in the corona are affected by four factors. So, the analysis of the sports entrepreneurial and innovative opportunities in a threat called the corona crisis is a step to provide entrepreneurship in sports to continue the positive effects in the Post-Corona era.

Keywords

  1. Ahmadi, M., Esfahaniniya, A., Nodehi, M. A., & Ahmadi, M. (2021). Investigating the consequences of the outbreak of Covid-19 on the sports industry. Contemporary Studies On Sport Management. https://doi.org/10.22084/smms.2021.23971.2832
  2. Alameeri, K., Alshurideh, M., & Kurdi, B. A. (2021). The effect of covid-19 pandemic on business systems’ innovation and entrepreneurship and how to cope with it: A theatrical view. In The Effect of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Business Intelligence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67151-8_16
  3. Alavi, S., Zabihi, E., Alavi, S. H., & Zar, A. (2021). Identifying the consequences of Covid-19 on Iranian sports. Sport Management Studies, 13(69), 324-361. https://doi.org/10.2208 9/smrj.2021.9364.3173
  4. Areiza-Padilla, J. A., Galindo-Becerra, T., & Del Río, M. C. (2021). Social Networks and E-Loyalty: A New Means of Sports Training during COVID-19 Quarantines. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(7), 2808-2823. https://doi. org/10.3390/jtaer16070154
  5. Biron, M., De Cieri, H., Fulmer, I., Lin, C.-H., Mayrhofer, W., Nyfoudi, M., Sanders, K., Shipton, H., & Sun, J. M. (2021). Structuring for innovative responses to human resource challenges: A skunk works approach. Human Resource Management Review, 31(2), 100768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100768
  6. Brakhas, H., Boroumand, M. R., Dastoom, S., & Bozorgpour, B. (2021). Business Management in Crisis Period: Factors, Challenges and Strategies (Study of the sports industry in record conditions caused by Coronavirus). Sport Management Studies, 13(66), 297-326. https://doi.org/0.22089/smrj.2020.8874.3024
  7. Chesbrough, H. (2020). To recover faster from Covid-19, open up: Managerial implications from an open innovation perspective. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 410-413. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.04.010
  8. Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2013). Conceptualizing Mediatization: Contexts, Traditions, Arguments. Communication Theory, 23(3), 191-202. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12019
  9. Dellabarca, R. (2002). Understanding the “opportunity recognition process” in entrepreneurship, and consideration of whether serial entrepreneurs undertake opportunity recognition better than novice entrepreneurs. [Msc Thesis, University of Cambridge]. Cambridge, England. http://a-zsmenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2015/12/Oppurtunity-Recognition.pdf
  10. Donthu, N., & Gustafsson, A. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on business and research. Journal of Business Research, 117, 284-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.008
  11. Escamilla-Fajardo, P., Núñez-Pomar, J. M., Calabuig-Moreno, F., & Gómez-Tafalla, A. M. (2020). Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sports Entrepreneurship. Sustainability, 12(20), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208493
  12. Fallah, Z., Beheshti, F., Beheshti, M., & Rezvani, M. H. (2017). Comparing existing and desirable situations of employment opportunities for graduates of sports science (case study: golestan province). Human Resource Management in Sport Journal, 4(2), 179-188. https://www.sid.ir/en/Journal/ViewPaper.aspx?ID=605407
  13. Gavrila Gavrila, S., & De Lucas Ancillo, A. (2022). Entrepreneurship, innovation, digitization and digital transformation toward a sustainable growth within the pandemic environment. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 28(1), 45-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2021-0395
  14. Gharari, M., Mohammadi, R., & Ghorbani, M. (2021). Assessing Educational Harms and Challenges of Covid-19. Iranian Journal of Epidemiology, 16(5), 29-37. http://irje. tums.ac.ir/article-1-6914-en.html
  15. Heydari, R., & Asadollahi, E. (2021). Explaining and Classifying the Effects of Corona Outbreaks on Sports Industry. Research in Sport Management and Motor Behavior, 11(22), 201-225. https://doi.org/10.52547/jrsm.11.22.201
  16. Heydari, R., Asadollahi, E., & Alizaiy, O. (2021). Identify the Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak on the Sports Industry. Journal of Sport Management, 12(4), 1203-1232. https://doi. org/10.22059/jsm.2021.307792.2547
  17. Jaberi, A., & Mazloomi Soveini, F. (2021). Identifying the Opportunities Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sport Context: A Thematic Analysis. Sport Management Studies, 13(68), 171-196. https://doi.org/10.22089/smrj.2021.9570.3227
  18. Jones, P., Jones, A., Williams-Burnett, N., & Ratten, V. (2017). Let’s get Physical: stories of entrepreneurial activity from sports coaches/instructors. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 18(4), 219-230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1465750317741878
  19. Kermally, S. (1986). Catering management education—the entrepreneurial dimension. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 5(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4319(86)90052-6
  20. Lee, S. M., & Trimi, S. (2021). Convergence innovation in the digital age and in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Journal of Business Research, 123, 14-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jbusres.2020.09.041
  21. Lete-Lasa, J. R., Martín-Acero, R., Rico-Díaz, J., Gómez-Varela, J., & Río-Rodríguez, D. (2020). Perception of the Sports Social Environment After the Development and Implementation of an Identification Tool for Contagious Risk Situations in Sports During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2 020.610421
  22. Mandalizadeh, Z., & Honari, H. (2011). An investigation of the factors affecting entrepreneurship in Sport: As an interdisciplinary area. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 2(2), 113-136. https://doi.org/10.7508/isih.2010.06.006
  23. Mann, R. H., Clift, B. C., Boykoff, J., & Bekker, S. (2020). Athletes as community; athletes in community: covid-19, sporting mega-events and athlete health protection. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(18), 1071-1072. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102
  24. Parnell, D., Widdop, P., Bond, A., & Wilson, R. (2022). COVID-19, networks and sport. Managing Sport and Leisure, 27(1-2), 78-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2020. 1750100
  25. Ratten, V. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and sport entrepreneurship. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(6), 1379-1388. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/IJEBR-06-2020-0387
  26. Ratten, V. (2021). COVID-19 and entrepreneurship: Future research directions. Strategic Change, 30(2), 91-98. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2392
  27. Ratten, V., da Silva Braga, V. L., & da Encarnação Marques, C. S. (2021). Sport entrepreneurship and value co-creation in times of crisis: The covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Research, 133(1), 265-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.001
  28. Ratten, V., & Ferreira, J. J. (2017). Sport entrepreneurship and innovation. Routledge. https:// www.routledge.com/Sport-Entrepreneurship-and-Innovation/Ratten-Ferreira/p/book/ 97 81138941748
  29. Salimi Zaviyeh, S. G. (2020). Crisis Response Strategies during the Coronavirus Crisis (COVID- 19) in the Production and Industry Sector. Quarterly journal of Industrial Technology Development, 18(39), 63-76. http://jtd.iranjournals.ir/article_43252.html?lang=en
  30. Skinner, J., Edwards, A., & Smith, A. C. (2020). Qualitative research in sport management (2 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367854249
  31. Staley, K., Seal, E., Donaldson, A., Randle, E., Forsdike, K., Burnett, D., Thorn, L., & Nicholson, M. (2021). Staying safe while staying together: the COVID-19 paradox for participants returning to community-based sport in Victoria, Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 45(6), 608-615. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.13177
  32. Vazifedoust, H., MalekAra, M., & TaheriBavandpour, S. (2020, September 15). Technological Entrepreneurship in the Corona Pandemic. Second Conference on Accounting and Management, Padua, Italy. https://civilica.com/doc/1114152/
  33. Venkataraman, S. (2002). Stakeholder value equilibration and the entrepreneurial process. The Ruffin Series of the Society for Business Ethics, 3, 45-57. https://doi.org/10.5840/ruffinx2002313
  34. Wang, Y., Hong, A., Li, X., & Gao, J. (2020). Marketing innovations during a global crisis: A study of China firms’ response to COVID-19. Journal of Business Research, 116, 214-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.029
  35. Wenzel, M., Stanske, S., & Lieberman, M. B. (2020). Strategic responses to crisis. Strategic Management Journal, 42(2), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3161
  36. Zabihi, H., Shojaei, V., & Hami, M. (2019). Investigating the Relationship between Skill and Academic Literacy and the Success of Sport Business considering the Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation. Applied Research in Sport Management, 7(3), 55-63. https://journals.pnu.ac.ir/article_5530_e1ad45e19dfc675bc680d8d82f20e882.pdf
  37. Zarghami, M. R. (2021, March 7). A Study of Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Crisis Occurrences (Case study: covid 19). The 6th National Conference on Modern Research in Humanities, Economics and Accounting, Tehran, Iran. https://civilica.com/doc/1117518/