Just one screen is not enough: Social TV role to Brazilian fans of Major League Soccer

Abstract

PurposeSports leagues, such as Major League Soccer (MLS), aim at expanding their audience at global level through alternative media other than television (TV). Brazil stands out among football media consumer audiences as one of the main markets worldwide. Brazilian MLS consumers play the role of fans to converge between TV media and digital platforms, in a phenomenon that has been called Social TV.Design/methodology/approachThe aim of the current research is to investigate how Brazilian MLS fans' consumption process is established through Social TV; it was done based on netnography performed between 2018 and 2020.FindingsResults have indicated that Social TV is a catalyst of practices associated with fan culture: cultural convergence, technologies appropriations, poaching experiences and production of a collective intelligence.Research limitations/implicationsCurrent research reinforces how ethnography methodology has been gaining room as likely consumer market research, working as alternative method based on the prevalence of focus group and survey techniques.Practical implicationsSocial TV phenomenon presents itself as a possibility to expand and direct marketing strategies focused on sports management, just as the media often consumed by fans.Originality/valueFrom the results, it is possible assuming that connections between fans are punctually guided by their relationship with the cultural object consumed by them in a network relationship whose actors deindividualize sociocultural practices such as consumption. Thus, the main contribution of the study lies on identifying how fan culture can be autonomously established in the market arena in comparison to other cultures.

Millennial football fan participation: the influence of football video games on play and engagement

“…Fandom is a well-established cultural dimension that has substantial influence over participation and has been the subject of much recent research at the intersection between sports and business (e.g. Moura et al, 2023;Winell et al, 2022;Gutierrez et al, 2023). This research extends analysis of fandom to millennial football fans in Australia, highlighting not only its multi-dimensionality, as done by Dwyer et al (2018) and Thorne and Bruner (2006), but also its diverse and adaptive manifestations.…”

“…Online communities have been supported in football fandom research due to their unique cultural context, level of interactions and rich discussions (Moura et al, 2023). To understand sport fan engagement, Winell et al (2022) advocate for more research to be conducted using social media platforms.…”

“…Finally, fans want to possess material objects related to their interest, as represented through their “wish to acquire” (Thorne and Bruner, 2006). Such fan consumption practices enable fans to establish ties and legitimize their fandom (Moura et al , 2023), used as a means to express oneself (Arnould and Thompson, 2005) and community membership (Thorne and Bruner, 2006). Each of the aforementioned dimensions are unique characteristics of fandom that are experienced in different intensities, with potentially different outcomes for football participation examined.…”

“…For example, fan consumption is found to be enhanced through community building special events and fan-player bonding held at children-friendly locations (Gutierrez et al, 2023). Online communities are also harnessed to stay connected and share unique experiences with fans' objects of culture Moura et al (2023). Whilst sports fandom has received some attention, no research to date examines how dimensions of millennial football fanaticism manifest in football participation, specifically playing football.…”

“…, 2023). Online communities are also harnessed to stay connected and share unique experiences with fans’ objects of culture Moura et al. (2023).…”