Sustainable business models for sports education metaverse: an fsQCA analysis of 42 global pilot projects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v73.117967Keywords:
Sports Education Metaverse, Sustainable Business Models, Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), Digital Sport Innovation, User Engagement and Participation, Socio-technical Systems, Educational Technology EcosystemsAbstract
Introduction: Sustaining sports education initiatives in the metaverse remains difficult due to low engagement, limited institutional backing, and unstable business models.
Objective: This study identifies strategic configurations that enable sustainability in metaverse-based sports education.
Methodology: Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), 42 global pilot projects (2020–2023) were analyzed across economic, social, and technological dimensions.
Results: Community engagement (Consistency = 0.91; Coverage = 0.87) and economic viability (Consistency = 0.94) emerged as necessary conditions. Three sufficient pathways led to sustainability: technology-driven, policy-adaptive, and community self-organizing models.
Discussion: Findings highlight that no single factor guarantees success; instead, diverse equifinal combinations yield viability depending on resource context and governance support.
Conclusion: Long-term sustainability in the sports education metaverse depends on integrating participatory engagement, adaptive policy alignment, and resilient economic models positioning social participation as the core driver of enduring digital ecosystems.
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