A more recent study outlines three . 6 No. Positive impacts of commercialisation on society. 4, pp. The literature also illustrates how sponsors affect fan identification. Woisetschlger etal., 2013) or critical theory. * Hewer, P., Gannon, M. and Cordina, R. (2017), Discordant fandom and global football brands: 'Let the people sing', Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol. All of this could be seen as a major distraction from the sport itself. Quantitative papers, on the other hand, often find both positive and negative responses among fans. As with other service ecosystems, commercialization varies depending on factors such as geographical context, the sport itself, and the way the sport is practised. Merkel etal., 2016; Laurell and Soderman, 2018) and is at least partly induced by sponsors (e.g. This review also concludes that as many studies are based in Anglo-Saxon contexts, we lack a holistic understanding of the nature of commercialization of elite sports. 205-226, doi: 10.1123/jsm.22.2.205. * Giulianotti, R. (2002), Supporters, followers, fans and flaneurs: a taxonomy of spectator identities in football, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. Why Nike Uses Endorsements & Sponsorships, The average semi-pro footballer's salaries, Instructions for Monopoly Simpsons Edition. (2014), Superstars as drivers of organizational identification: empirical findings from professional soccer, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. The effects of elite sport commercialization have attracted increased attention from scholars, but as this review has shown, it is still in a rather early stage of maturity and is dominated by conceptual and qualitative studies. For instance, in the dominant setting, i.e. * Fleischmann, A.C. and Fleischmann, M. (2019), International orientation of professional football beyond Europe: a digital perspective on the global reach of English, German and Spanish clubs, Sport, Business and Management, Vol. (2023), "How are fans affected by the commercialization of elite sports? 4, pp. The only way they can keep up with rising wage costs, improving facilities and bringing in new players is to sell advertising space to increase revenues. Abstract. From a management perspective, the review stresses the importance of being cautious in, e.g. We identified four outcome variables in our review: Fan Identity, Fan Attitudes, Fan Emotions and Fan Behaviours. As fans spend time, resources, and money on activities and apparel related to a team or sport, fans are sometimes, in commercial settings, regarded as customers of elite sports (Giulianotti, 2002). This is in accordance with research, which highlights that as fields or subfields develop, the first stages are often dominated by conceptual and qualitative studies (e.g. (2013), Emotion and memory in nostalgia sport tourism: examining the attraction to postmodern ballparks through an interdisciplinary lens, Journal of Sport and Tourism, Vol. The study indicates that most fans do not want this privatization development for two reasons: to prevent commercial interests in more than one club and for reasons of traditional and social interest. which factors have led to the commercialisation of sport? (1987), A child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as deity, consumption as religion, The Journal of American Culture, Vol. For fans, we used the following terms: Fans, Consumers and Supporters. 2, pp. Yet, some themes have received considerably more attention than others. In European contexts and in a competition like the Olympics, elite sports often have close associations to ideals of amateurship and local connectedness. In doing this, the authors performed a structured review of 42 academic articles published between 1992 and 2020 that all focus on how fans respond and are affected by the commercialization of elite sports. In addition, surveys are the most used method for collecting data (11 articles). * Rouvrais-Charron, C. and Kim, C. (2009), European football under close scrutiny, International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. Globalization of sports refers to the process of expansion of the idea of sport across the world and phenomena is how that are associated with it. Therefore, future research should apply methods utilizing these platforms, such as social media analytics (Stieglitz etal., 2014), to investigate how fan engagement on social media is affected by commercialization. 123-146, doi: 10.1177/1012690210362426. * Bauers, S.B., Lammert, J., Faix, A. and Hovemann, G. (2019), Club members in German professional football and their attitude towards the 50+1 RuleA stakeholder-oriented analysis, Soccer and Society, Vol. In addition, modernization and globalization are often related to commercialization, as they highlight that a commercial logic motivates organizations and other actors to modernize and globalize to gain financial revenues (Backman and Carlsson, 2020). 33 No. There is a risk that the loyalty of poly supporters (Hognestad, 2012) and satellite fans (Behrens and Uhrich, 2019) could come at the cost of lost loyalty among local fans. 44-68, doi: 10.1177/0193723518800433. 13 No. 1, pp. In total, 134 articles were retrieved. 824-837, doi: 10.1016/j.smr.2020.04.001. * Lee, M.S., Sandler, D.M. 2, pp. 30 No. Sports teams are businesses like any other and they need to make money to survive. 45 No. UEFA Champions League, The Olympics). 25-44, doi: 10.18666/jasm-2016-v8-i4-7221. To understand how commercialization affects fans of elite sports, we perform a structured review. In some countries, the influence of fans over their clubs is institutionalized in laws that restrict clubs from being governed solely by private investors (e.g. Rahman, M. and Lockwood, S. (2011), How to use your Olympian: the paradox of athletic authenticity and commercialization in the contemporary Olympic games, Sociology, Vol. While it is difficult to generalize from the four papers, most arguments discuss the negative impacts of commercialization on fan loyalty. Here, commercialization threatens fans' existing involvement with the sport entity (e.g. Youth Kia Wazza; Commercialization of Sports -- What Good? Dwyer, B. 1, pp. * Hognestad, H.K. and Mechikoff, R.A. (1992), Deep fan: mythic identification, technology, and advertising in spectator sports, Sociology of Sport Journal, Vol. Other types of football are specified in the text (i.e. Rohde, M. and Breuer, C. (2017), The market for football club investors: a review of theory and empirical evidence from professional European football, European Sport Management Quarterly, Vol. Commercialization contributes to tensions between the local and the global, for instance, between fans and local teams, and fans and foreign teams living in the same area (Evans and Norcliffe, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to develop a holistic understanding of extant studies addressing the impact of commercialization on fans of elite sports.,In doing this, the authors performed a structured review of 42 academic articles published between 1992 and 2020 that all focus on how fans respond and are affected by the commercialization of . This should be addressed given the rapid increase in commercial influences in women's elite sports (Meier and von Uechtriz, 2020; Mumcu etal., 2016). 20 Nos 3-4, pp. 4, pp. * Torchia, D. (2016), An alternative football club in a liquid modernity: FC United of Manchester, Culture and Organization, Vol. (2018), Sport team emotion: conceptualization, scale development and validation, Sport Management Review, Vol. These types of brand extensions are discussed as sports organizations' activities going beyond the core product of the team to generate more revenues, for example, marketing branded merchandise to extend the fan experience (Abosag etal., 2012). 17 No. Woisetschlger etal., 2013), new types of ownership structures (e.g. 7, pp. 51 No. Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates, Answers to the most commonly asked questions here, 2022, Erik Winell, John Armbrecht, Erik Lundberg and Jonas Nilsson, References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the review, Examining the relationship between brand emotion and brand extension among supporters of professional football clubs, Spectacularized sport: understanding the invention of a nostalgic, commodified sporting event, International Journal of Sport Communication, Jokerits move to KHL: an odd momentum in the commercialization of Nordic elite ice hockey, Brand image and fan loyalty in professional team sport, Club members in German professional football and their attitude towards the 50+1 RuleA stakeholder-oriented analysis, Uniting a sport teams' global fan community: prototypical behavior of satellite fans enhances local fans' attitudes and perceptions of groupness, A child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as deity, consumption as religion, The effects of emotions on football spectators' satisfaction and behavioural intentions, Football's emerging market trade network: ego network approach to world systems theory, Experiential marketing in sport spectatorship services: a customer perspective, The Politics and Culture of FC St. Pauli: from leftism, through anti-establishment, to commercialization, A digital ethnography of fan reaction to sponsorship termination, Football fandom and Disneyisation in late-modern life, Influence of the virtual brand community in sports sponsorship, The neoliberalization of football: rethinking neoliberalism through the commercialization of the beautiful game, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Local tradition versus globalisation: resistance to the McDonaldisation and Disneyisation of professional football in England, Divided loyalty? 4, pp. 2, doi: 10.1108/SBM-05-2014-0025. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to develop a holistic understanding of extant studies addressing the impacts of elite sport commercialization on fans. There is a dominance of papers applying identity theory and social identity theory (15 papers), highlighting the importance of fandom to self-identity construction. 5, pp. A level PE - commercialisation and the media. This review also illustrates methods for studying online contexts are scarce (see Table2). 6 No. 46 No. Thus, is it fair to conclude that fans respond to and are affected negatively by an increasing commercialization of elite sports? 5 No. 3, pp. It is a multifaceted process which may take on many different forms. It presents a research agenda for future research and emphasizes a need to integrate the interests of several stakeholders when managing the impacts of elite sport commercialization. A detailed list of areas, processes and activities that exemplifies the intensified commercialization of elite sports, Summary of methodological foundation and methods used in the literature, Note(s): 2 papers combine geographical contexts, The analytical themes and content in the literature, Commercialization and, e.g. * Delia, E.B. Thus, commercialization can spur opportunities for teams and, or athletes to earn more profits and therein, to become more successful. Tables 69 have, at least, one thing in common; negative effects on, and negative responses of, fans dominate. 26 No. * Andon, S.P. Wang, C.L., Aksan, G.E., Allison, B., Armstrong Soule, C.A., Biscaia, R., Buchanan-Oliver, M., Burton, T.A.M., Chang, E.-C., Chou, W.W., Coffin, J., Collins, N., De la Pena, A.S., Dill-Shackleford, K.E., Doral, S., Favia, M.J., Gou, C., Gou, S., Hall, K.D., Hao, A., Hedlund, D., Hung, K., Jia, X., Johnson, L.M., Joubert, A., Leal, M., Liu, W., Loehr, G.T., Lovric, B., Mastromartino, B., Metcalf, M., Murphy, J., Olds, K.F., Pun, L.F., Rajendiran, A., Sarkar, A., Sarkar, J.G., Sayan, A., Schau, A., Schau, H.J., Shackleford, L., Todd, B., Volkheimer, J., Wang, C.L., Woo, T.C., Wu, R., Zeng, C., Zhang, J. and Zhang, K. (2020), Handbook of research on the impact of fandom in society and consumerism, in Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services (AMCRMES) Book Series. individuals with a psychological connection to one orseveral team(s), sport(s), and/or athlete(s) (Funk and James, 2001), are important actors inthis regard. 515-531, doi: 10.1080/19406940.2015.1063530. 815-829, doi: 10.1177/0038038511413426. These changes may negatively affect fans' engagement with and perceived value of being fans (Tinson etal., 2021; Hognestad, 2015). 2, pp. The planning phase focuses on assessing the relevance and limits of the specified topic. Although commercialization has almost become part of the modern games, but it is crucial to remember it has positive and negative impacts on the sponsor, sports, players and fans. 4, pp. Loyalty thus refers to both the psychological connection and intention to remain a fan to a team, as well as the behavioural aspects of being a fan, such as if and to what extent the fan attends games (Bauer etal., 2008). 181-198, doi: 10.1080/14775080802310223. The third theme that emerged in the review relates to the impacts of commercialization on fan emotions, for instance, the intensity of anger, anxiety, dejection, happiness, and excitement as responses to certain stimuli in the elite sport context (Biscaia etal., 2012). 8 No. 4 No. 324-348, doi: 10.1108/EJM-10-2014-0633. Our review illustrates that the effects on fans of elite sport commercialization have mainly been studied in men's elite football, especially in English top-division contexts (14 of 42 papers are related to the English Premier League). 3, pp. 103-117, doi: 10.1177/019372359001400203. Bauers etal. Meier, H.E. 34 Nos 17-18, pp. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. With increased exposure of the game comes increased participation. A categorization of the reviewed articles is important to provide an overview of the topic (Tranfield etal., 2003). As elite sports are often characterized by close bonds between fans and teams or athletes, the different dimensions of commercialization impact this relationship. Commercialization of sports results in an industry that provides revenue for national and local economics through event revenue, taxes, employment and sponsorship. Qualitative approaches are dominant in previous literature (18 of 42 papers), and several papers (11) are conceptually written. In the previous literature, other concepts are often interlinked to commercialization of elite sports, such as commodification, marketization, modernization and globalization. 2, pp. 5, pp. (2012), Split loyalties: football is a community business, Soccer and Society, Vol. As Turk points out: Unlike a retail clerk, the teacher's role is not to sell a product or please customers. Para enviarnos tus inquietudes, ideas o simplemente saber ms acerca de Cuida Tu Dinero, escrbenos. Table5 summarizes each theme and the major results found in the specific papers. Laurell, C. and Soderman, S. (2018), Sport in business studies: a state-of-the-art literature review, Sport, Business and Management, Vol. For instance, different levels of loyalty (Dwyer, 2011), engagement (Yoshida etal., 2014), identification (Wann and Branscombe, 1990) and roles in value-co-creation exist (e.g. Sposnorship. Sponsorship places on the team clothes increasing in worth, Transforming ownership structures of elite sport teams and increase in private owners, Private investors taking over to either make profits (e.g. 5 No. 3, pp. Andon and Houck, 2011), Commercialization can reduce, or establish the loyalty among fans (e.g. While fans and other major stakeholders traditionally have been local, teams and athletes increasingly seek to internationalize their fan bases to expand commercially (e.g. and Foster, W.M. 2, pp. Most of the articles are based on qualitative research methodology (18 articles). 12 No. 3, pp. Advertisements on major events rising in terms of worth (e.g. 39 No. 14 No. 29 No. However, as research on commercialization is remarkably scarce outside Europe, for instance in North America and, or Asia, it indicates that commercialization may not cause the same types of tensions and resistance in these contexts as in Europe. * Abosag, I., Roper, S. and Hind, D. (2012), Examining the relationship between brand emotion and brand extension among supporters of professional football clubs, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 10 No. * Woisetschlger, D.M., Haselhoff, V.J. There is an inclination towards critical perspectives and critical theorization (10 papers) focusing on commercialization and its negative impacts on fans. Table2 highlights the methods used in the research to date. 536-554, doi: 10.1080/14660970.2012.677227. First, it will assess the view that modern sport was a lagged by-product of the . 363-376, doi: 10.1016/j.smr.2017.08.007. Jonas Nilsson (PhD) is associate professor in Business Administration at University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Another reason for the difficulties in finding clear consensus is the variety of applied methods. Below, we set out a research agenda focusing on methodological, theoretical, conceptual, and empirical development. 19 No. 17 No. Commercialisation is about media exposure for the sport. However, commercialization, such as more revenues from sponsors, increases the possibilities of recruiting better players or modernizing club facilities that may be embraced by fans. 4 No. Regarding fan loyalty, several studies indicate that the commercialization of elite sports can affect the loyalty of fans. Some studies also highlight that commercialization can spark fan resistance. Doyle, J.P., Lock, D., Funk, D.C., Filo, K. and McDonald, H. (2017), 'I was there from the start': the identity-maintenance strategies used by fans to combat the threat of losing, Sport Management Review, Vol. Tranfield, D., Denyer, D. and Smart, P. (2003), Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review, British Journal of Management, Vol. 25-49, doi: 10.1080/16184742.2013.865248. Commercial spectator sports attrracted the interest of much of the population. Fans, i.e. Through a structured review of current research, several insights have been presented. Additionally, instead of focusing on attitudes towards the team or athlete, Parganas etal. We use the term football for European style football (soccer). and Exler, S. (2008), Brand image and fan loyalty in professional team sport, Journal of Sport Management, Vol. 14 No. All fans want to see their team succeed and are not fussy about the sponsor's logo on the team shirt or billboards around the ground. (2015), Supporters and football governance, from customers to stakeholders: a literature review and agenda for research, Sport Management Review, Vol. * Chanavat, N. and Bodet, G. (2014), Experiential marketing in sport spectatorship services: a customer perspective, European Sport Management Quarterly, Vol. Thus, studying other contexts with different background and traditions of sport is important to gain an holistic understanding of commercialization.