Examination of the interest of university students receiving sports education towards startup initiatives

As a result of the increasing place and position of technology in human life, changes and transformations are emerging in the sports sector. It is defined as initiatives that create an impact in the sports sector with new technological products and services created by individuals, brands, ideas, institutions and investors directly or indirectly involved in the sports sector in order to develop sports. The aim of this research is to determine the interest of students studying sports at undergraduate level in state universities in Turkey towards sports startups. While the population of the research consists of students studying sports in Turkey, the sample consists of 1409 students. The application of the 7-question personal information form (Gender, Age, University, Department, Class, Monthly Household Income and Using Sports Startup Application) and the "Sports Startups Interest Scale", which was developed by the researcher and the validity and reliability of which was carried out by the researcher, was carried out both face-to-face and digitally. The data obtained were transferred to the licensed SPSS 21.0 programme and the percentage and frequency values of the variables determined in the research were determined. Independent simple t-test and one-way variance (ANOVA) tests were used to analyse the data. Pearson Correlation test was used to determine the relationship between the sub-dimensions of the sports startups interest scale and the total mean scores of the scale. In the statistical analyses performed, the significance level was accepted as p<0.05 for the determination of the difference between the groups. No significant difference was found between the answers of university students studying sports to the sports startups interest scale and the variables of gender, age, department, monthly household income. A significant difference was found between the students participating in the study and the variables of university, class and startup usage (p<0.05). When these significant differences are analysed; it is concluded that Harran University and Akdeniz University students have higher interest in sports startups than Sakarya University of Applied Sciences, Bingöl University and Gümüşhane University in the total average of the universities where the students study and the scale. It is concluded that the 4th grade students have higher interest in sports startups than the 2nd grade students in the total average of the scale with the classes in which the students are studying; In the case of using startup products or services, it is concluded that the interest of the students who use startup products or services is higher than the students who do not use them. As a result of the Pearson correlation analysis, it was determined that there were strong and very strong (r=566 - r=870) positive relationships between the sub-dimensions of the sports startups interest scale and the total average scores of the university students participating in the research. As a result, it was observed that the interest of university students studying sports towards sports startups differed significantly in terms of the variables of university, class and using startup products and services. It is seen that the interest of the university students participating in the research towards sports startups is at a moderate level in 7 items of the scale, and their interest level is at a good level in 14 items. Educational curriculums for university students, seminars, training and university collaborations, and processes that teach students about entrepreneurship and startups both theoretically and practically, as well as providing students with financial opportunities, should be provided to increase their interest in this subject. Since it is one of the first studies on sports startups in the literature, it contributes to the field.