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The primary purpose of this study is to examine how fan attendance at team special events and player appearances impact fan consumption (as measured by merchandise sales). Insights obtained could shed light on opportunities for professional soccer teams to expand revenues through enhanced fan consumption of goods and services.

A sample of 499 season ticket holders were used to assess fan consumption by measuring merchandise sales. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were run for merchandise sales as the dependent variable of fan consumption. The control variables were age, gender (male = 1, 0 otherwise), and whether an individual has children.

The key independent variables of attending special events and fan–player bonding were both found to have a statistically significant impact on merchandise sales. Results show that each additional special event attended generates up to $33.71 in merchandise sales for the club. Similarly, each fan–player bonding experience attended also has a direct impact, increasing merchandise consumption by $23.00.

The results of this study provide insights that can help fan consumption grow within the professional United States soccer industry and better allow team managers to make decisions about the possible benefits of holding more special events and fan–player bonding experiences. The findings also confirm the impact personal relationships with fans can have on the bottom line of sport franchises.

Though this study adds to the body of literature by expanding previous work on fan consumption, there are limited studies on the social aspects of consumption which are examined and analyzed within this study, particularly of note is the study of merchandise sales as proxy for fan consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cultural value orientations and sport fan motivations.

Data were collected from American and Korean college students. Three separate multivariate analysis of covariance revealed sport fan motivations differ across nationality and cultural value orientation.

The current study provided empirical support for the assumption that individualism-collectivism influences sport fan motivations and geographically different sport consumers. Also, the outcomes were consistent with the previous literature which found sport fan motivations differ across nationality (the USA and South Korea).

In combination with prior research, the findings of this study offer suggestions for how marketers could differentiate their marketing strategies for culturally diverse sport consumers.

Traditional sports have seen declining participation at many levels, with football being no different. This is occurring at a time when emergent technologies present new challenges, particularly to the crucial yet ignored cohort of millennials. Without meeting the needs of millennials, football cannot be successful in the future. This research seeks to understand how millennial football fandom (sport, not team) in Australia impacts football participation, whilst empirically examining the impact of football video games (FVGs).

Survey data are collected from online groups, forums and social media pages of Australian football (soccer) fans. Quantitative analysis of millennial fandom and its influence on football participation (for the first time demarcated into play and engagement) is undertaken, including the moderating influence of time spent playing FVGs, amidst covariate influences of age and number of children.

Results highlight the multi-dimensionality of millennial football fandom in Australia, reveal the typical hours spent playing football across a range of participation types (including play and engagement), support fan involvement’s influence on engagement with football, establish that a desire to interact with other football fans manifests in playing more football, specify how playing FVGs moderates these relationships, supports the covariate influences of age and evidences that playing FVGs does not hamper football play.

This is the first study to examine millennial fans of football (the sport, not tied to a club) and the influence of fandom on football participation. By separating football participation into two forms, play and engagement, we highlight discrete influences, whilst evaluating for the first time the moderating influence of the time millennials spend playing FVGs. For sport managers and administrators, these are important findings to facilitate better segmentation, recruitment, retention and participation, each with broader societal health benefits. This is undertaken in Australia where football is not a dominant code, relegating fandom to a niche, thus revealing important findings for sports and business management.

This study examined how different factors contribute to attitudes and the behaviour of spectators attending an Australian Football League game. The results revealed that four factors - Team Interest, Vicarious Achievement, Excitement and Player Interest - were successful in predicting levels of loyalty, while five factors - Vicarious Achievement, Player Interest, Entertainment Value, Drama and Socialisation - predicted game-day attendance. This study illustrates the applicability of the Sport Interest Inventory developed in North America to understand motivational factors for Australian sports fans.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of patriotism, nostalgia, drama and excitement of the game, and interest in star players to predict fans’ intentions to follow one-day cricket in near future. Furthermore, social influence is positioned as a moderator to enrich the understanding of fans’ motives to follow one-day cricket.

The data are collected by means of a cross-sectional survey conducted among 609 university students enroled in Pakistani and Sri Lankan universities. The collected data are analysed by employing a structural equation modelling procedures to reach meaningful conclusions.

The variables of patriotism, nostalgic associations, excitement and drama of the game, and interest in star players are found to positively relate to the fans’ intentions to follow one-day cricket in near future. However, the moderating effects of social influence only moderated with interest in star players, which has practical and theoretical implications.

The study is an original contribution to the field of sports marketing. The proposed relationships are based on social identity theory paradigm. Furthermore, the moderating effects of social influence and a multi-country data are unique to this study. Finally, in previous studies, football fans’ motivation and test-match cricket fans’ motivations are studied, hence one-day cricket as a context is also unique to this study.

The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of brand love by studying its intensity and the nature of extreme forms of it, rather than its presence or absence. The love of a sports team is a type of brand love and is a valuable context to study of brand love intensity because the intensity of love can become more extreme than for products; it has two distinctive features that are theoretically, management and policy relevant; and it is an under-researched context in marketing that is socially and economically significant.

The authors empirically develop and test a multidimensional hierarchical higher-order measure of the intensity of team love and a model of its drivers and outcomes using a sample of supporter club members of a professional sports team who vary in their intensity of love for the team.

The results support our measurement model and its distinctive features, especially the importance of the perceived two-way bond fans have with their team. While overall intensity of team love is not related to social influence or on-field performance, as hypothesized, they are related to sub-dimensions of team love, reflecting its multidimensionality. As hypothesized, the intensity of team love and social influence are related to the intention to renew club membership even with increased costs and poor performance and social influence is directly related to word of mouth and game attendance.

The research is limited to the club members of one sports team in a particular sport in one country and one cultural context. Future research opportunities include: extending it to other sports and brand contexts, refining the methodology and addressing other issues highlighted by the research.

The results indicate the limits of management control of team love intensity because it develops over time independently through social processes. However, firms can help facilitate these processes. The social dimensions indicate the need to develop socially, as well as individually-focussed relationship management strategies. Most devoted fans are valuable customers, but some hardcore elements can be dysfunctional and sabotage the brand.

Sport is personally, social and economically significant in most cultures and love of a sports team love can be an important glue that binds people and communities. However, the existence of extreme hardcore fans and heated rivalries can also be divisive and pose challenges for social policy. Hence, the need to better understand the factors driving more extreme forms of team love to better inform the development of social policy.

The authors focus on the intensity of brand love rather than its presence and absence as in prior research. The authors develop and test a new hierarchical measure of sports team love intensity and a model of its drivers and outcomes. The sports context is under-researched in marketing but reveals the important role played by dimensions that are obscured in studies of product brand love – its social nature and the perceived reciprocal relation with devoted fans. The results contribute to developing extended theories of brand love, open up new research opportunities and have management and policy implications.

In this paper, Fantasy Sports (Hereafter FS) is conceptually classified as a concept of gamification for professional sport leagues. From a sporting perspective, FS is often criticized because such online activities may be at the expense of physical activities. Otherwise, gamification can ultimately lead to economic advantages for sport leagues. To further empirically analyse this supposed juxtaposition, an empirical study is presented.

In the empirical study, participation and non-participation in a sport league-related FS league are analysed and the study uses a divided sample (N = 319) for a one-factor Welch-ANOVA. FS effects on sport practice (engaging in doing sport) and usage (engaging with sport) of FS players as well as on gaining and retaining fans are investigated.

Results demonstrate that participating in gamified FS experiences increases sport usage while not harming general sport practice. Furthermore, FS participation increases consumption capital as well as sport fans' loyalty and word of mouth (WOM) towards the league brand. Building on the results, league brands should foster gamified FS applications to retain their fan base and acquire new fans.

The authors’ theoretical contribution indicates the importance of FS as a gamified application and essential marketing tool for professional sport leagues. By introducing the terms sport practice and usage, the authors bridge the traditional logic of sport consumption with innovative approaches around engagement in and with sports. The results refute the prejudice that FS leads to less physical activity due to time substitution or displacement.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine community relations as corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagements by sport organizations through the lens of social anchor theory. Specifically, this work explores whether and how sport organizations serve as social anchors in community, and what community relations approaches have the potential to facilitate professional sport organizations as social anchors. Findings are based on textual analysis of CSR reports and community relating websites of nine professional sport organizations in the United States. Findings suggest that sport organizations act as social anchors by identifying with social issues, celebrating diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI), and incorporating the margins into sports. Overall, partnerships, community events, and players' community engagements are the community relations approaches with potential to establish sport organizations as social anchors. The proposed best practices illustrate the intersection of sport CSR initiatives, community relations, and DEI social programs.

In an era where a growing segment of fantasy league participating and video game playing sport consumers has become more interested in managing individual major league players than in following the fortunes of actual major league teams, North American major league attendance is dropping. The authors aim to argue that team management could keep their attention, strengthen the team‐fan bond, and increase attendance and overall revenue, by giving their fans input into decisions related to the team's on‐field, on‐court, or on‐ice management.

This paper chronicles the rise of fantasy sport and sport video game participation and argues that a new breed of sport consumer is emerging that values managing sport over spectating. Previous attempts by teams to give fans input into management decisions are outlined and critiqued.

It is suggested that teams wishing to increase the team identification and attendance frequency of these management‐centric consumers should use technology to establish a platform whereby dues‐paying members vote on team‐related management issues. Utilizing a members‐only webpage for some votes will encourage the growth of a geographically diverse fan base, while utilizing in‐stadium hand‐held wireless technology for other votes will encourage game attendance.

This paper has value to marketers of professional sport who are constantly searching for ways to increase fan identification and sell tickets. It also has value to sport fan academics by suggesting that traditional conceptualizations of the team‐fan bond may be becoming outdated in an era where a new generation of sport consumers is becoming increasingly player‐focused and management‐centric.

The desire to spectate at traditional events and festivals in different countries is dying. From a marketing perspective, researchers and practitioners need to understand why people spectate at these conventional events and festivals. Data-driven marketing approaches can help event and festival marketing policymakers in attracting potential spectators. Drawing on attachment theory, the current study fills this void and explores fans' motivation and intentions to follow Kushti (i.e. traditional wrestling) events while developing a new event attachment scale (EAS).

Three comprehensive studies were conducted. First, an exploratory study where 12 retired wrestlers, considered hardcore fans of Kushti were interviewed. The collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Second, a pilot study (n = 204) was performed leading to a main survey (n = 365). The survey data was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques.

Results revealed five types of attachments (i.e., ground attachment, game attachment, emotional attachment, cultural attachment and player attachment). An important intervention is the unique elements within each of these attachments, which may motivate fans to follow traditional gaming events. The new scale offers excellent psychometric properties.

Event and festival marketers should consider the role of tradition while marketing such events. The retired wrestlers can be used as influences/reference points to attract visitors to spectate at Kushti events. Furthermore, facilities such as smooth roads, approachable grounds and excellent service operations during these events can help policymakers to attract more spectators.

The study is unique in contextualizing Kushti and presenting a unique scale to measure fans' motivations and intentions to follow traditional gaming events.