Introduction: Considering the importance of sports business branding, the purpose of this research was to identify the influencing factors on sports business branding with the approach of digital marketing development.

Methods: The present research method is qualitative and of the type of analytical-exploratory research and is considered an applied research in terms of purpose. The participants in this research included experts and experienced people in the field of branding, digital marketing, and sports management, and the purposeful snowball sampling method was used in the research. To collect information, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants and theoretical saturation was achieved with 16 interviews. For data analysis, thematic analysis method was used to obtain information for this research.

Results: In this study, 3 themes and 8 concepts were discovered and counted. Regarding the factors affecting the branding of sports businesses with a digital marketing development approach, it shows that three key factors for the success of sports business branding in digital marketing have been identified: developing brand identity, optimizing user experience, and strategic planning. Brand identity helps differentiate and create emotional connections with customers, user experience affects positive interactions and customer loyalty, and strategic planning enables the achievement of goals and adaptation to market changes.

Conclusion: Sports businesses must focus and plan on brand identity development, user experience optimization, and strategic planning. Therefore, sustainable success requires coordination between these factors and a comprehensive approach.