https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4116-0508
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Abstract
Professional sports leagues, like so many other organizations, seek to access international markets. The purpose of this research was to explore stakeholder perceptions of the internationalization potential of the Persian Gulf Pro League (PGPL). Data were collected via 20 in-depth interviews with football federation marketing executives, club marketing executives, and experts in internationalization and sports marketing. The data analysis was guided by the principles of grounded theory with the aid of open and axial coding. The analysis produced 39 issues affecting the internationalization of the PGPL. These were classified into five main dimensions—political, economic, managerial, legal, technical-marketing, and socio-cultural factors.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sajad Soroush
Sajad Soroush (Ph.D., University of Tehran) is an Assistant Professor in of Sport Management of the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Kermanshah Branch of the Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Iran. His research interests include globalization and internationalization, communications, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sociocultural issues in sports. His work has appeared in such journals as the Iranian Journal of Contemporary Studies on Sport Management, Brazilian Journal of Futsal and Football, European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, Iranian Journal of Sport Management, among others.
Geoff Dickson
Geoff Dickson (Ph.D., Griffith University) is Director of the Centre for Sport and Social Impact at La Trobe University. His research interests include governance, innovation, image, reputation, integrity, sponsorship, and consumer behavior. He has supervised to completion nearly 40 honors, masters, and PhD theses.
Seyed Nasrollah Sajjadi
Seyed Nasrollah Sajjadi (Ph.D., University of Tehran) is a Professor of the Department of Sport Management at Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the University of Tehran. His research interests include leisure and event management, globalization and internationalization, sport marketing, and sponsorship. His work has appeared in such journals as International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, the World Journal of Sport Sciences, the Iranian Journal of Contemporary Studies on Sport Management, and the Iranian Journal of Sport Management.
Ebrahim Alidoust Ghahfarokhi
Ebrahim Alidoust Ghahfarokhi (Ph.D., University of Tehran) is an Associate Professor of the Department of Sport Management at Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the University of Tehran. His research interests include sport marketing and consumer behavior, internationalization in sports, Olympic Games, and international relations. His work has appeared in such journals as International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, Journal of Sport Science, the Iranian Journal of Sport Management Studies, and the Iranian Journal of Sport Management.