Investigating sport rivals: Number, evaluations and relationship with team identification

Abstract

The current investigation examined the number of teams fans list as rivals of teams they follow closely, moderately and casually. It was hypothesized that there would be positive correlations between the level of identification for a team and the number of teams listed as rivals, and that evaluations of rival teams would be most negative for teams followed closely, followed by teams followed moderately, and then teams followed casually. Further, we expected negative relationships between identification and evaluations of the rivals. The final two hypotheses concerned predictors of estimates of the likelihood of watching rivals’ games: participants would report being more likely to watch rivals of closely followed teams and that identification would account for a significant proportion of unique variance in desire to watch rival games. Students from several universities completed a questionnaire packet assessing identification for and perceptions of rivals of teams they follow closely, moderately and casually. The results indicated strong support for the hypothesized patterns of effects.

Marvel, DC, and Sport: Investigating Rivalry in the Sport and Comic Settings

“…24 Results also suggest that fans of sport and comic brands identify with multiple in-groups (Gaertner et al, 1993), and perhaps this is more prevalent in the comic setting. 25 The influence of reported identification on measured outcomes also supports research in other sport and nonsport settings (Havard et al, 2020;Wann et al, 2016). Higher identification also led to more support for the rival brand, which again may be a result of fans showing preferences but also consuming content from the rival brand.…”

“…Additionally, as correlations among variables were acceptable (Hair et al, 2013), they suggest that fans' perceptions of rival brands are influenced by interactions with out-groups. 26 Gender failing to significantly influence outcomes is contrary to research in sport (Havard, Eddy, and Ryan, 2016;Wann et al, 2016), and provides a potential avenue 23 There are online social networking communities that support both Marvel and DC brands (e.g., DC and Marvel Fans United; DC and Marvel Fans United (The Sanctuary); DC Marvel Family-all on Facebook). 24 Someone may be a bigger fan of Marvel, but that does not mean he or she does not consume DC books, movies, and other consumer products.…”

“…For example, fans who were highly identified with their favorite team were more likely to bask in the glory following a victory by said team and experience more disappointment following a loss (Wann and Branscombe, 1990). To this end, highly identified fans are also more likely to positively evaluate prior team performance (Wann et al, 2016), overstate their expectations for an upcoming season (Dietz-Uhler and Murrell, 1999;Wann and Dolan, 1994;Wann et al, 2016), and maintain those expectations by overstating or embellishing favorite team accomplishments . 3 Fandom in comics and other popular culture genres is typically on display online via discussion and debate surrounding favorite characters' storylines.…”

“…Rivalry has influenced sport fan perceptions and behaviors in many ways, including consuming favorite and rival games (Havard, Shapiro, and Ridinger, 2016;Mahony and Moorman, 1999;Wann et al, 2016, paying price premiums to attend live contests (Sanford and Scott, 2016), consuming favorite team merchandise (Havard, Eddy, and Ryan, 2016), and perceiving rivalry games to be more violent than nonrivalry games (Raney and Kinally, 2009). Further, researchers have asserted that variables such as competition realignment Ryan, 2013, 2017) and success of the favorite team (Havard, Reams, and Gray, 2013) can in turn influence rivalry.…”

Reinvestigating the Impact of Conference Realignment on Rivalry in Intercollegiate Athletics

“…A two-way MANCOVA was used to control for differences caused by favorite team (e.g., Texas A&M and all other schools) and fixed variable interactions. The amount a fan identifies with their favorite team was included as a covariate because team identification has been found to impact various fan reactions Wann et al, 2016). Significant differences existed between fan perceptions of the current rival and former rival (Pillai's Trace .345, F( 4, 487) = 64.17, p < .001).…”