A Study on the Path to the Sustainable Development of Sports-Consuming Cities—A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Fuzzy Sets Based on Data from 35 Cities in China

The prospects of China’s sports sector hinge on how sports cities can thrive sustainably in the context of the new global pandemic, unlocking consumer potential and boosting domestic demand. In this study, 35 Chinese cities were chosen as research samples, and research methods such as literature, logical analysis, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis were used to select conditional variables such as government policy promotion and assistance, expert human resources, sports competitions and events, stadiums and facilities, and sponsorship by sports enterprises to examine how Chinese sports-consuming cities can develop sustainably. The research discovered that sports contests and events, as well as stadiums and facilities, are the essential prerequisites for the sustainable growth of sports-consuming cities, and that diverse combinations of the two may play a vital role in different circumstances. For the sustainable development of sports-consuming cities, there are four clusters and three models, which correspond to the “Venue + Event” model (Clusters 1 and 2), the “Event-led” model (Cluster 3), and the “Venue-led” model (Cluster 4). To encourage the high-quality growth of China’s sports business, each city may establish its development strategy based on its unique qualities. The goal is to supply Chinese expertise for the long-term growth of Western sports cities.