Fan involvement in a professional sport team's decision making

Abstract

Purpose -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. Design/methodology/approach -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. Findings -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. Originality/value -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has value to sport fan academics by suggesting that traditional conceptualizations of the team-fan bond may be becoming outdated in an era where a new generation of sport consumers is becoming increasingly player-focused and management-centric.

Factors influencing attendance at stadiums and arenas

“…The new consumer of the twenty-first century sport is accustomed to controlling their actions through virtual leagues and video games and no longer likes to wait passively to watch a sports competition as just a spectator. These consumers want to be part of the game, and conventional marketing and management strategies of the twentieth century will have difficulties attracting these consumers to the stadiums (Hyatt et al, 2013).…”

Gamification through fantasy sports – Empirical findings from professional sport leagues

“…Most of the academic publications mentioned by Tacon and Vainker (2017) consider FS as a given phenomenon without taking more than one perspective into account. The sport league perspective is vital for the discussion on FS as they use FS to increase interaction with their fan base (Hyatt et al, 2013). Thus, FS is a marketing tool used by sport league managers to reach marketing and sales goals and with that monetize the engagement with their fans.…”

Return on Investment in Sports Marketing Initiatives: A Study Focusing on a Brazilian Soccer Team

“…The authors consider that researchers can improuve the situation, by implementing the view that sport marketing have to change from a traditional exchange paradigm to a relationship paradigm, reinforcing Bauer, Sauer and Schmitt (2005) thought: it is important to establish relationship management. Complementarly, Hyatt, Sutton, Foster and McConnell (2013) advocate that fans have to have greater participation in clubs decisions, ensuring the relationship paradigm.…”

“…However, these tools had become pervasive in soccer clubs. Hyatt, Sutton, Foster and McConnell (2013) agreed that something must be done to get sports fans interested in the real-league standings: "Unless sport managers are prepared to play games in front of empty stadiums for the sole purpose of generating statistics to be consumed by fantasy players and video gamers".…”