The Effect of Athletes’ Experience Quality on the Loyalty to Sports Clubs

Purpose: Today, an essential part of sports’ duties towards society is the responsibility of the clubs of various sports disciplines. Sports clubs play an indispensable role in developing the health of people in the community and healthily spending their free time. This study investigates the relationship between predictors of experience quality and athlete loyalty. It also evaluates the mediating effect of the quality of athlete experience on the relationship between predictor variables and athlete loyalty.Methodology: The research method was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of the research was the athletes of Iran’s private clubs, using non-probability sampling and convenience sampling. Data was collected online from 391 athletes in combat sports, bodybuilding, and fitness through Google Forms. 6 hypotheses were proposed and tested using structural equation modeling.Findings: A significant relationship existed between predictor variables and the athlete experience quality (P 0.05). Also, the experience quality mediates the relationship between predictor variables and athletes’ loyalty positively and significantly (P 0.05). The results can help to develop and improve marketing strategies to increase the athletes’ experience quality in service centers and sports clubs and create customer experience and management processes. It also has implications for managers of service centers and sports clubs or marketing managers who aim to increase customer loyalty and club effectiveness.Originality: This study empirically justifies the relationship between predictor variables for the quality of experience and loyalty of athletes in private clubs. This study also provides insight into the relationships between predictor variables, experience quality, and athlete loyalty in an integrated model.