Today, sports tourism has become a global socio-economic phenomenon, beyond an industry, and many countries use it as an important source to improve their economic, social, and political situation. The purpose of the present study was to design a model for institutionalizing sports tourism. This study was conducted in terms of applied purpose and mixed approach, which was conducted as a survey and exploratory. For this purpose, first, by comprehensively reviewing the research background and consulting experts, the factors and obstacles of Ardabil sports tourism were identified, and then the relationships between these factors were examined and leveled using the structural-interpretive modeling method, and finally, the factors and obstacles were grouped using the Make-Make method. The statistical population of the study was in two levels, quantitative and qualitative. The qualitative population (N=15) consisted of tourism and sports tourism experts and sports management, and the quantitative population (N=30,000) consisted of coaches and referees, stakeholders and senior managers, and competition organizers, players, and spectators. In this study, the data collection tools are interviews and questionnaires, and face and content validity were used, because the study of research literature and the experiences and expert opinions of academic professors and experts were used. According to the results, 7 factors and 8 barriers were identified as the most important factors and barriers to the development of sports tourism in Ardabil. Government and legal factors are among the most basic factors and the most important barriers in the development model of sports tourism in Ardabil, which should be given serious attention. The results of this study help planners and policymakers to make smarter decisions for the development of sports tourism and choose a more appropriate path for the development of this industry in Ardabil.