Tourism and sports are both among the major and recognized industries of the world. Both create opportunities for foreign exchange and cultural growth for countries, while also giving them a special status economically and socially. This research aimed to zone and assess the developmental potentials of sports tourism in the Lut Desert in the South Khorasan zone. To this end, we employed a mixed-method approach, using library resources and semi-structured interviews to collect data. This study utilized 11 participants selected through purposive sampling, chosen from a population of experts in the field of sports tourism. The Thematic Analysis method was used to analyze the interviews. The results illustrated that off-roading, air sports, and camel riding are among the most popular sports being hosted in the Lut Desert. Moreover, the most commonly recommended sports were track and field, marathons, sand hiking, and paragliding. In the zoning segment of the research, the GIS software was utilized to identify the regions of zones most suitable for hosting sports events in the Lut Desert. Finally, we concluded that through zoning and assessing the suitable regions for sports tourism in the Lut Desert, and by selecting the appropriate sports for each zone, we can create the opportunity for the growth of sports tourism in the province and attract sports tourists. Additionally, sports events in the South Khorasan zone must be held through political-security-executive considerations, as well as taking cultural, social, economic, the locals’ livelihood, attractions, and the geological limitations into account.