{‘Fans & Fandom’

An enquiry into fan engagementAlan J SeymourEASM 2014

The Follow ME Approach

ExpertTribalCelebrity

Fandom Following-ETC

1 Humanize and Personalise Teamsand Athletes

3. Make Fans Contributors to Teamsand Unite Them

2 Offer Fans Unprecedented Accessto Teams Through Unique Content

SPORTS FAN SUMMIT

by Emma Carroll

Fans are worth more to a sporting club than membership, merchandise and ticket sales - the true value of a fan is their opportunity to become engaged with the code, club and game itself.

Sports Fan Summit in Melbourne

30 June – 2 July at the MCG, Melbourne

{ https://www.surveymonk

ey.com/results/SM-SMZT7CX8/

Research Results

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m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/04/07/Opinion/Sutton-Impact.aspx

One of my favorite aspects of these events — besides the initial sell — is the creation of the story that can be retold over and over. Most teams provide some type of keepsake, in most cases a photo that commemorates the event attended. When displayed in the attendee’s office, it often starts conversations that begin with the question, “Where was that picture taken?”

Emotional connection-fans & team

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=HySzVQnB0Go&feature=player_embedded

Good content garners good engagement

FAN STUDIES

What is a fan? A person who cannot be anything other than devoted, loyal, obsessed, stubborn, blinkered or all of these? As stated in the Urban Dictionary a sports fan is‘ A person who loves sports as an entertainment outlet and is highly interested in one or more sport or sports team’

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sports%20fanatic).

Psychologists are closing in on the conclusion that sport has many of the same effects on spectators as religion does [Barber, 2012]. As considered by Daniel Wann [2001], a leading sport psychologist at Murray State University, and his co-authors:"The similarities between sport fandom and organized religion are striking. Consider the vocabulary associated with both: faith, devotion, worship, ritual, dedication, sacrifice, commitment, spirit, prayer, suffering, festival, and celebration." p. 198

This study ‘Fandom & Followers’ investigates the social media and tribal affiliations with sports properties & fans via social media and in particular Twitter

The study will focus on two key constructs namely a) Fan behaviours and associations with new media and technologies that support sports club marketing and b) The involvement of research processes for sports clubs, as well as some interesting observations and techniques for future researchers in sports studies

The purpose of the paper is to enlighten both practitioners & academics of the power of social media in enabling the fan experience to enhance the future prosperity of sports brands and properties against competing pursuits in the very competitive sports business markets. Further, the growing importance of fan inputs on sports properties and their dialogue with fans, is essential for sports events and leisure pursuits to continue to increase their identities and engagements with all fan tribes & participants

In summary, as Paul Booth illuminates in his seminal work on Digital fandom (2010), this paper aims to add to the debate on describing fan culture in in a new digital environment as well as explaining and adding to the academic landscape with new explanations for media conceptions, as demonstrated by the fans on Twitter and similar micro blogging platforms.

{http://m.firstpost.com/blogs/what-makes-a-sports-fan-into-a-sports-fanatic-1667233.html

Events dictate fanaticism

{ContactAlan.seymour@northampton.ac.uk

Any questions?

References

Browning & Sanderson, J (2012) The Positives and Negatives of Twitter: Exploring How Student-Athletes International Journal of Sport Communication, 2012, 5, 503-521

Booth (2010) Digital Fandom: New Media Studies Paul Lang Publishers New York

Sanderson, J., & Kassing, J.W. (2011). Tweets and blogs: Transformative, adversarial, and Integrative developments in sports media. In A.C. Billings (Ed.), Sports media: Transformation, Integration, consumption (pp. 114–127). New York: Routledge.

Dugan, L. (2012, February 21). Twitter to surpass 500 million registered users’ Retrieved from http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/500-million-registeredusers_b18842

Seymour, A & Thompson, R (2011) Action Replays Sports Conference University of Northampton 2011

Fuchs, C. (2014) Social Media: A critical Introduction London Sage

T L Tuten & M R Solomon (2013): Social Media Marketing: New International Edition Pearson London

M S Barker, D I Barker F Borman & K E Neher (2013) Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach 1st Edition Cengage Learning Stamford