Ali Nazemi
Mohammad Ehsani
Hadi Bagheri
Mehdi Rasooli

The brands of sports leagues act as umbrellas in which sports clubs compete. If the league brand is leveraged and consolidated, clubs in the league can improve their business and generate more revenues. But a review of the sports branding literature shows that the vast majority of this researches, especially domestic ones, has focused on sports teams. By identifying this research gap, the present study examines the structural requirements of the Iran Football League Organization to facilitate the branding process of the Persian Gulf Football ProLeague (the top-level football league in Iran).The purpose of this study is to identify the structural prerequisites of the Iranian Football League organization to achieve the branding of the Persian Gulf Football ProLeague.The present study is an exploratory research that has been done using a qualitative approach. The present research population consists of experts familiar with the subject of research. Participants were selected for interviews by two methods of targeted sampling and case sampling; until the theoretical saturation was reached, finally ۱۸ people with qualifications in the field of research (sample size) were interviewed. Data analysis was performed using directional content analysis method in ۷ steps.After performing stages of content analysis, all final concepts (۷۴ concepts) were categorized into ۷ higher-level categories in terms of abstraction; These seven structural prerequisites of the league organization to facilitate the branding process of the Premier Football League are: Transparency of information flow; Establishment of league brand protection system; Empowering the marketing and economic committee of the league organization; Real and effective independence of the league organization from the federation; Merit in the managers of the football league organization; Establishment of education and supervision system of financial management of clubs; Fighting corruption in the country s football organization.Based on the research results, branding of the Premier Football League will not be fruitful as long as the structural requirements are not met; therefore, before focusing on the league s special branding activities, the Iranian Football League should work closely with other football institutions, especially the Football Federation, to facilitate and fulfill these prerequisites.

Branding؛ League Brand؛ Football Marketing