Understanding Sporting Social Media Brand Communities, Place and Social Capital: A Netnography of Football Fans

Abstract

The emergence of social media and digital channels have expanded communication practices and also created new, virtual spaces where sports fans can interact and communicate directly with each other and with clubs. This article examines the potential for social media brand communities to develop a sense of both community and place amongst sports fans. It explores their influence in placemaking initiatives through the bonding and bridging social capital of a football club’s supporters. A netnographic study of a football club’s supporter networks (five channels) and their interactions with social media brand communities was performed. Data gathered from online sources was underpinned by interviews with 25 members of the community. Findings were analysed via NVivo using bridging and bonding social capital as a theoretical lens. The paper makes two primary contributions to knowledge. It enhances our understanding of the impact of SMBCs and their use in a sporting context—an area that has become increasingly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdowns that have kept fans out of venues. It also contributes to our understanding of the influence of placemaking strategies upon the social capital of supporter communities.

Social media marketing strategy in English football clubs

“…53 This demonstrates a need for a wider range of cases using qualitative methods to increase the knowledge base of SMMS in sport. 54 With the exception of studies by Fenton et al, 55 Parganos and Anagnostopoulo, 56 and McCarthy et al, 57 there appear to be very few studies generated by empirical insights from practitioners based within football clubs.…”

“…Moreover, a recent study of Salford City Football Club (SCFC) by Fenton et al explored the potential of social media brand communities (SMBC) in developing a sense of community and place amongst sports fans. 43 By focusing on football industry participants, findings demonstrated how SMBC communications between the club and supporters was pivotal to creating a sense of community and place, which, in turn, enhanced the bridging and bonding social capital of the fanbase. They also discovered that in seeking to diversify to a more global fanbase, friction may be created with local fans who may then feel alienated.…”

Sport fans' nostalgia and revisit intention to stadiums during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Moreover, their team identity was maintained when participating in the online fan community (MacIntosh et al , 2017). The virtual space where they interacted and communicated expanded during the pandemic (Fenton et al , 2021). Although brand hate toward leagues might occur during the pandemic due to their late response to the uncertainty, Su et al (2022) argued that sport fans developed a sense of togetherness if they appraised the sport organizations' crisis management performance.…”

Social Media, Digital Technology, and Sexuality in Sport

“…This move has accelerated the revolutionizing of traditional marketing communication models through digital technologies (Datta, Sahaym, & Brooks, 2018). In 2020, online, interactive environments, such as those offered by social media platforms, became the most common meeting place for consumers, where information is exchanged and content created (Fenton, Keegan & Parry, 2021). It is within this environment that sports fan communities are now operating.…”

“…Virtual spaces and communities have filled the void for many fans and do provide many of the benefits that physical spaces afford sport fans. They have also facilitated communication between fans around the world (Mastromartino et al, 2020) and allowed clubs to reach new audiences, and engage with existing audiences in new ways (Fenton, Keegan, & Parry, 2021).…”