INVESTIGATING THE STATE OF AMBUSH MARKETING IN FOOTBALL AND WRESTLING

One of the modern ways of investing in sports and advertising is through sports. Along with financial backers, the ambush marketing phenomenon has been around for three decades. In Iran, one of the weaknesses is the lack of rules and weakness in the implementation of marketing laws. Football and wrestling are popular sports in Iran and have significant sponsors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the situation of ambush marketing in football and wrestling. The present study is of qualitative type. The statistical population includes 12 professionals: professors of sports marketing, media officials, the Football Federation, and football wrestling and financial support. Research tools are semi-structured interviews and research methods, content analysis and thematic analysis using Nvivo8 software. The research results showed that the term hidden marketing should be used instead of ambush marketing, and strict legislation and heavy financial penalties are required by lawmakers. Although major sporting events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are more common in Western countries, we can also use their methods and rules to protect the rights of sponsors and prevent ambush marketing. Article visualizations