An Exploration of Sport Fandom in Online Communities

Understanding interactions between sport fans helps sport marketers customize relationships with the fans and enhance brand loyalty. This paper analyzes the social exchanges that take place in an online sport community and identifies possible fan roles and their influences in the community. Based on a netnography approach, the study identifies 4 different types of role—Oracles, Hollywoods, Jokers, and Rookies—yielding a typology of sport fans...