The Digital Transformation of Fan Engagement in Sports

Topic
With the advent of digitalization, a new necessity has emerged in sports – digital fan engagement. This approach goes beyond mere attraction and focuses on cultivating and maintaining an engaged and loyal fan base in the digital world. This study explores the role of digital technologies in fan engagement with European football clubs, focusing on the application of these experiences to Swiss football clubs.

Relevance
At a time when digitalization is rapidly changing business models and consumer behavior, digital interactions have become an integral part of our daily lives. As football also experiences this digital evolution, clubs need to understand how to use technology most effectively to meet the interests and needs of (potential) fans. Furthermore, there is a gap in the academic sports literature in terms of concrete, actionable recommendations for football clubs in digital fan engagement. This study fills this gap by identifying specific challenges and success factors and summarizing the opportunities in a framework.

Results
This study highlights the importance of a digital, continuous, fan-centric dialogue between football clubs and their fans. This requires a comprehensive understanding of digital communication strategies and platform-specific content activation. Success depends on factors such as brand and audience development, diversified content, and skillful orchestration of digital channels. Owned platforms offer commercialization potential and allow for detailed fan data collection, while social media platforms increase awareness, strengthen brand identity, and present monetization opportunities. In addition, the study acknowledges that European football clubs lack digital capabilities and considers concerns about the sustainability of certain new technologies. Furthermore, this study offers a six-stage framework that provides Swiss football clubs a step-by-step guide to enhance digital fan engagement.

Implications
• Put fans at the center by actively involving them, e.g., through polls, competitions, and co-creation, and promote the club platforms as the most trustworthy source of information.

• Diversify and adjust content to audience demographics by implementing platform-specific strategies, e.g., fast-paced, action-packed, football (un)related content that appeals to the next generation. Also, incentivize fans to convert smoothly from social media to owned platforms.

• Harness the power of technology and data to manage fan base segmentation and make data-driven decisions.

• Align the organizational structure toward a fan-centric approach, focus on building internal digital capabilities, incorporate external expertise, drive innovation, and foster creativity.

Methods
This study utilized a mixed-methods approach combining a literature review, case studies, and qualitative interviews. The qualitative research approach involved semi-structured interviews with seven top European football clubs whose managers are responsible for promoting fan engagement. These interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes related to fan engagement. MAXQDA software was used for the data analysis. In addition, two case studies were conducted to support or validate the findings. From the results, a six-stage framework (in line with established maturity frameworks) was developed that considers the current maturity level of digital fan engagement of three Swiss football clubs.