Always Together: How Football Clubs Want Constant Connections with Fans

Abstract

Football clubs represent communities; however, commercialisation and professionalization of the game pushed away these traditional links. At the present, clubs are able to control the flux of communication, employing media consultants, public relations and producing their own content. For the past decades, symbolic elements became important inside organisations: brand building and storytelling tools became key elements for economic success. Thus, sports organisations have to put in place marketing and communication strategies to enhance the fan experience to establish a more perennial connection. Following the digital revolution, direct communication between public and organisations became easier and less expensive. Thus, football clubs invested in their own media and communication channels to reach their fans, in order to enhance their connection. In theoretical terms, we want to frame our research inside mediatisation theory, to understand how media logic is implemented into social institutions. Following the perception that communication and media, especially new digital technologies, are important tools, sports organisations change their structure, becoming more complex, and also their behaviour to match their aspirations. Our field work was done at three different football clubs, Benfica, Botafogo and Paris Saint-Germain, where we use an ethnographical-interview approach.to talk to content and media professionals from the club owned media channels. Taking into account the club's viewpoint, we want to discuss the reasons they decided to invest in their own media and communication channels. After our analyses, we identified that football clubs aims to booster the emotional and mediated connection with fans, creating a strong community. Finally, we consider that the media channels owned by the clubs have a phatic function. For the sake of interaction, these channels serve to form and sustain a community of fans.

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“…The economics of football analyze the behavior of consumers (fans) and producers (clubs). Examples of studies focusing on fans/spectators include Abdel-Naby Ibrahim (2014), Binjwaied et al (2015), Borges (2018), Desbordes (2020, 2021), Harasta (2021), Özgen andArgan (2017), andPfeffel et al (2017).…”

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“…Bachan and Reilly (2016) compare 48 European football leagues with the one in Ireland and found that the Irish clubs are supported by fans as much as in the other European leagues. Borges (2018) looks at how football clubs can build constant relations with their fans. He argues that clubs represent communities 5 and as such, the football clubs employ communication and media consultants to improve their relationships with their fans.…”

Incentives and Compensation in Ethiopian Football

“…Finally, the media stations belonging to the clubs have a poetic function. For interaction purposes, these channels train and support a community of fans (Vannier Borges, 2018). A similar study suggested that fans and supporters are not only crucial actors in implementing the sports service but also play an important role in influencing the choices and behaviours of the football club and other stakeholders (Zagnoli & Radicchi, 2010).…”