Introduction: The aim of this research was to develop a sociological approach to licensing in the sports industry: designing a model using fuzzy Delphi. Methods: he research is a combined exploratory (qualitative-quantitative) and instrument-building study. The statistical population includes 20 elites and sports marketers. In the first stage, effective factors were identified using a semi-structured interview, and in the second stage, indicators were evaluated and prioritized using the fuzzy Delphi method and fuzzy numbers. The indicators confirmed in the pairwise comparison questionnaire were re-examined, and finally, using interpretive structural modeling, the final licensing development model was designed with an emphasis on the sociological approach. Results: In this study, 21 factors affecting the development of licensing in the Iranian sports industry were initially identified. To determine the importance of these factors, the fuzzy Delphi method was used, which included three questionnaire stages with 20 experts and sports elites. In the first round, the indicators were evaluated based on the experts' views and trapezoidal fuzzy numbers were calculated, and then the fuzzies were converted into definite values. The second round was conducted by reviewing the opinions and calculating the difference in means to achieve greater consensus.