This document discusses a study on fan loyalty and its impacts. The study aims to understand fan loyalty as a whole by examining factors like brand loyalty vs. team loyalty, psychological commitment to a team, and the relationship between a team's geographical location and attendance rates. The document provides context on fan loyalty through a literature review discussing theories of identification and how geography, attendance, psychological commitment, and brand vs. team loyalty have been explored in previous research. An informed consent form is also included, outlining the study procedures and ensuring confidentiality and voluntary participation.

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Running Head: FAN LOYALTY’S IMPACT ON INDIVIDUALS
Fan Loyalty’s Impact on Individuals
Justin Lynn, Brain Carland, Brad Divins, and Alex Reber
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
INFORMED CONSENT FORM for RESEARCH
Title of Study An All-Encompassing Look at Fan Loyalty
Principal Investigators Brian Carland, Brad Divins, Justin Lynn, Alex Reber
What are some general things you should know about research studies?
You are being asked to take part in a research study. Your participation in this study is
voluntary. You have the right to be a part of this study, to choose not to participate or to stop
participating at any time without penalty. The purpose of research studies is to gain a better
understanding of a certain topic or issue. You are not guaranteed any personal benefits from
being in a study. Research studies also may pose risks to those that participate. In this consent
form you will find specific details about the research in which you are being asked to participate.
If you do not understand something in this form it is your right to ask the researcher for
clarification or more information. A copy of this consent form will be provided to you. If at any
time you have questions about your participation, do not hesitate to contact the researcher(s)
named above.
What is the purpose of this study?
The purpose of this study is to understand fan loyalty as a whole, and the all of the factors that
contribute.
What will happen if you take part in the study?
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be interviewed about your fanhood of your
favorite professional sports teams. The interview will last approximately ten minutes. We will
request permission to observe your actions as you watch one of your favorite sports teams on
television. The observation will last the duration of one full sports event on television. Next, we
will request permission to follow your Twitter account/ Facebook page to monitor how you
follow your favorite teams on social media. We will only monitor social media action pertaining
to professional sports.
Risks
There are minimal to no risks associated with this study. The information that we receive from
our interviews, your social networks, and our observations will not include names. The
information we gain aside from your names will be used for analysis. However, names and
contact information will not be attached.
Benefits

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There are no direct benefits for your participation in this study. However, you may become more
aware of the roots of your fanhood in relation to your favorite sports teams. You may also
become more aware of the nature of business involved with professional sports.
Confidentiality
The information in the records of the study will be kept confidential. Data will be stored
securely in electronic files on the researcher’s computers at University of Pittsburgh at
Johnstown. The computer is password protected and within a locked office. No reference will
be made in oral or written reports which could like you to the study. You will NOT be asked to
write your name on any study materials so that no one can match your identity to the answers
that you provide.
Compensation
You will not receive anything for participating in this research.
What if you have questions about this study?
If you have questions at any time about the study or the procedures, you may contact the
researchers, Brian Carland at UPJ 1255, PO Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907; 814/327-8724;
bmc81@pitt.edu , Brad Divins at UPJ 0384, PO Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907; 814/591-
5817; brd59@pitt.edu , Justin Lynn at UPJ 1406, PO Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907; 814/414-
2315; jal174@pitt.edu …. , Alex Reber at 331 Theatre Drive Apt. 1B2 , Johnstown, Pa 15907,
412/414-2166; ajr110@pitt.edu .
What if you have questions about your rights as a research participant?
If you feel you have not been treated according to the description in this form, or your rights as a
participant in research have been violated during the course of this project, you may contact
Brian Carland, UPJ 1255, PO Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907(814/327-8724), Brad Divins,
UPJ 0384, PO Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907(814/591-5817), Justin Lynn at UPJ 1406, PO
Box 1200, Johnstown, PA 15907(814/414-2315) , Alex Reber, 331 Theatre Drive, Apt. 1B2,
Johnstown, Pa 15907, (412/414-2166).
Consent to Participate
I have read and understand the above information. I have the opportunity to print and keep a
copy of this form. I agree to participate in this study with the understanding that I may choose
not to participate or to stop participating at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which I
am otherwise entitled. By completing the checklists, I give my consent to participate in this
study.

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Abstract
Fan loyalty is defined as how attached a person feels to one specific team and how it
affects them psychologically, physically, and emotionally when the team succeeds or fails. This
study was designed to measure multiple areas of fan loyalty. Those areas include brand loyalty
vs. team loyalty, one’s psychological commitment to their team, and a team’s geographical
location and attendance rates. Fans are necessary consumers for the success of sports leagues and
specific teams. To understand these fans and their loyalty is important from a psychological and
a business standpoint. By looking at fan loyalty from all of these angles, we can understand its
origins and everything surrounding it.
Literature Review
Introduction
The entertainment business is one that revolves around profit and expenditure, quite like any
other industry. Professional sports fall into the realm of the entertainment business. There is
money being made and spent in order to entertain eager fans. Without these fans, the industry
would fail and lack purpose. Determining who the fans are and what their motives are can
become essential in maintaining a successful sports industry. To understand why fans act the
way they do in regards to team loyalty enables organizations to understand where the revenue is
coming from and how to maintain that revenue. If individual teams within established leagues
are successful, the league can then be successful as a whole. Out of these leagues, supported by
the fans, come a plethora of jobs and economic advantages.
It is understood that there are different types of sports fans. Some fans may migrate from
team to team based on overall success. Other fans may choose a team at a young age and remain

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loyal due to a wide variety of factors that includes the concept of identification. Another tier of
fans may remain loyal to their favorite team simply because of the geographical aspect.
Nonetheless, the fan is a valuable part of a professional sports organization. Because the fan is so
important to an organization, it may be helpful to look at the fan on an even deeper level. It could
be argued that the personality type of a fan could affect the tendency for that fan to remain loyal
to a sports team over time. Loyalty can have different meaning for each individual fan. Because
of this, fan loyalty seems to be an important phenomenon to understand as a whole with its many
contributing factors.
Theoretical Framework
Sports teams strive to obtain loyal fans. Those loyal fans are who keep the team running.
So what is the number one factor that creates the need to belong to a fan base? On a more basic
level, what is the reason a human needs to belong to any group or shared phenomenon? Kenneth
Burke would argue that the Identification Theory, also known as the Social Identity Theory, is
the driving force in the urge to belong. In Kenneth Burke’s A Rhetoric of Motives, the
identification theory is said to connect two entities. In this case, the individual, or the fan, is
connected to the professional sports team. First of all, the fan is connected to that team simply
because of the sport. A relationship to a particular sports team begins at a very young age
(James, 2001, p. 233). At the same time, the relationship to that sport has to be very strong as
well. The fan has that connection to the sport because of their identification. Since we choose the
sports and teams that we enjoy at a very young age, it is difficult to say why exactly we identify.
However, over time that unexplained identification can turn into a lasting psychological
commitment (James, 2001, p. 233). In A Rhetoric of Motives (1969), Kenneth Burke proclaims
that identification stems from division. In professional sports, division is the cause of

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competition. The large pool of athletes must be divided amongst different teams to create
competition. Without competition, there is nothing to root for or against. Therefore, the notion of
division encourages a fan to choose a team to identify with, and to follow. The Identification
Theory suggests that we yearn to be joined, yet separate. For the sake of professional sports
leagues, consubstantiality is reached through the togetherness of the league. For example, the
NFL has fans for all of its 32 separate teams. That being said, all of those fans can also call
themselves fans of the NFL. This reinforces the human need to be joined yet separate. The fan
wants to be a part of the league, but also wants a sense of individuality. However, is
identification always conscious? Burke would argue not (Burke, 1969, p. 115). There are many
underlying factors that could attract a consumer’s attention. The colors that the team wears could
contribute to a semi-conscious identification with that team. The success the team has may also
semi-consciously attract fans. The environment in which the team is in could draw in more
consumers. These factors are not necessarily explicit reasons to choose a team to follow. Burke’s
view of identification can help us to better understand fan loyalty as a whole in professional
sports. Identification is a concept that drives loyalty and commitment. First, we identify. Then,
we commit and become loyal.
Brand Loyalty vs. Team Loyalty
There has been a significant amount of literature regarding brand loyalty and its
relationship to team loyalty. The similarities deal with identification and the commitment to a
brand or team. Levin, Beasley, and Gamble (2004) argue that “NASCAR fans exhibited stronger
brand loyalty than non-NASCAR fans to NASCAR sponsoring brands of beer” (p.12). This
displays that those who are more susceptible to brand loyalty and commitment will also be
inclined to become attached and loyal to a league or team. Lin and Lin (2008) also discuss the

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factors that influence brand loyalty in their research. They found individuals classify
stimulations from their surroundings to simplify information and so they can understand their
self-environment better. Next, the individuals may identify themselves with the team which they
feel like they belong to by social classification. Individuals may also compare the characteristics
of their team to other teams through social comparison. Lastly, individuals consider the traits of
their own team as more positive than traits of fans of other teams (pg. 70-71). Bauer Stokburger
Sauer and Exler (2008) argue, “There should be a strong focus on building a strong brand
identity…” (p.221). Brand identity must be clearly established to draw in more loyal fans. Brand
loyalty is better established when the team creates exciting shared experiences. These
experiences are essential in creating a brand, thus creating loyalty (Bauer, Stokburger-Sauer &
Exler, 2008, p.222). Lin and Lin (2008) also defined identification as, “team identification refers
to a spectator’s involvement with and psychological connection to a sports team” (pg. 70). Fans
that are located higher on the scale of fan identification are more likely to be loyal to league
sponsored brands (Levin, Beasley, Gamble, 2004, p.12). Levin, Beasley, and Gamble found that
a fan that is loyal to a brand that is associated to their team is more loyal to that brand than
someone who is a non-fan of that team but describes that brand as their favorite (p.18). This is
an example of how team loyalty can strengthen brand loyalty.
Psychological Commitment
Often times, a consumer chooses a team and identifies with that team. Over time the fan
becomes attached. Why is there a sense of commitment? Why does a fan remain loyal to a team
that consistently underperforms? These questions are explored through literature pertaining to
psychological involvement to the team. Wu, Tsai, and Hung (2012) define identification in sports
as “an orientation of the self in regard to other objects including a person or group that results in

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feelings or sentiments of close attachment.” This leads to a fan identifying themselves as a part
of the team, instead of saying “they won”, he or she will say, “we won” (pg. 178). The study also
shows that fans will distance themselves from team failures. If a team is starting to fail, some
fans will not identify with that particular team until they begin to succeed again. This leads to
another point of how certain fans will remain loyal to a team through failures and then take
tremendous pride in the fact that they remained loyal (pg. 179-180). Another demonstration of
psychological commitment is a fan that experiences a team’s achievements and failure as their
own achievements and failure (Stevens and Rosenberger, 2012, pg. 222). According to James,
commitment to a particular team may develop as young as age five (James, 2001, p. 233). Also
mentioned in this study was the fact that different environments affect team loyalty. At a young
age, family has the largest impact on who the preferred team is as well as the overall loyalty to
the team. David Brooks, in the New York Times (2005) discusses fan loyalty as a psychological
connection for some. He states, “It is a bond forged during a lifelong string of shared emotions”
(Brooks). He argues that some have a commitment to a team based on their community and
location. The others are represented by their psychological connection. That connection is
reached through years of shared success and even failure. He goes on to say this when speaking
of his own fanhood, “It would be to abandon a string of formative experiences, a core of my
identity. It would send me off on a life of phoniness and self-alienation” (Brooks, 2005).
Psychological commitment can be reached in a number of ways. Whether the commitment
comes from shared suffering, shared success, or simply, shared memories, there is still a sense of
consubstantiality in all of these instances. This directly relates back to Kenneth Burke’s
identification theory that describes the need to belong. On the other hand, a fan can start his or

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her loyalty based on their community and location in relation the team. This notion still supports
identification, in that there is a joined connection.
Geography and Attendance
Without a large enough fan base, it is impossible for a franchise to truly succeed. When a
large fan base cannot be reached, it is sometimes necessary to relocate the team to attract a more
stable fan base. This has been proven true with multiple NFL franchises, as well as other
professional sports franchises over the years. For a team to acquire an adequate fan base,
sometimes it is necessary to move the team altogether (Depken, 2001, p. 275). Bristow,
Schneider, and Sebastian (2010) studied the attendance of two teams going in different
directions, the Arizona Diamondbacks being on an upward trend, and the Chicago Cubs being on
a downward trend. The study found that despite being near the bottom of the standings, the Cubs
have high and consistent attendance numbers compared to the attendance of the Arizona
Diamondbacks and the Cubs also have competition in Chicago due to the White Sox being
another available option for fans. What the researcher does not take into account is that Wrigley
Field, the home of the Cubs, is a historic stadium and that alone attracts fans. Chase Field, the
home of the Diamondbacks, is not nearly as significant as Wrigley Field. The Diamondbacks
rely on winning baseball games in order to maintain their fan base. In the questionnaire
conducted, more Cubs fans were identified as diehard fans compared to Diamondbacks fans (pg.
3-4). Bee and Havitz (2010) link attendance and attraction in tennis to personal involvement.
They found that those who actually play tennis are more likely to follow tennis. Their
psychological commitment is also linked to their own experiences with tennis. The psychological
commitment then plays into the fan’s resistance to change. This resistance to change and
psychological commitment that comes from involvement ultimately increases the probability of

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attendance (p.153). Passikoff (1997) studied how professional sports teams should work
developing fan loyalty. Passikoff used the NFL (National Football League) and how they
created a rule that players cannot remove their helmets within the limit of the field. He linked
how fans liked this and this could have “conflicting needs”. If the league catered to the wants of
their fan base, they would have more fan and brand loyalty. Geographic region and attendance
directly relate to the further development of the fan loyalty of any professional sports team.
RQ: How do individuals develop and maintain fan loyalty?
Methods
In the study, 12 adult males (ages ranging from 21-40) were selected from sports bars in the
Pittsburgh area. The participants were selected on four different occasions in groups of three.
The four occasions represented the four major sports (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey).
The major leagues for these sports were the focus of the study (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL).
Individuals that were watching the sporting events that also identified with a specific team were
selected through observation and questioning. The questioning was conducted to clarify if the
individuals utilized social media, specifically, Twitter and or Facebook. After the selection of
participants, the study was conducted in three different phases: interview, social media
monitoring, and observation. The interview was designed to gain as much knowledge pertaining
to the participant’s fandom as possible. The setting for the interview was in the homes of the
participants. This was done to make them act more natural when answering questions about their
favorite sports teams. The homes of the participants would be the best place to trigger memories
associated with their beloved teams. They may have watched many televised games in that

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home. They also may have memorabilia that would aid in answering questions about their past
sports experiences. The questions were designed to inquire about how long they have been loyal
to a team, what they associate with that team, why they like that team, and how much time and
money they devote to that team. The next step in the data collection process was the monitoring
of social media. The participants chosen stated that they were active social media users.
Facebook and Twitter were used specifically to track the fan related activity on social networks.
Sports related Tweets and Facebook posts were tallied within a month period for each
participant. Furthermore, the team pages that were “followed” or “liked” by the participants were
taken into account. While there is no way of monitoring when they pay attention to the team
pages, simply being associated with that page tells something about the devotion to an
organization. The social network profile pages of the participants were also analyzed to code for
any sports related material such as profile pictures, cover photos, or personal information
containing favorite teams. The observation would include us, the researchers, going to an
individual’s home and watching and observing as he or she watches an event of their favorite
sports team. Verbals and non-verbals were recorded in addition to the fan’s temperament.
Extensive notes were taken to further analyze the fan’s language after observation. The
researchers attempted to be non-factors in the behavior of the fan by keeping their distance and
remaining silent. After all three forms of data were collected, the information was triangulated to
analyze how and why individuals develop and maintain fan loyalty.
Discussion
Limitations: Participants might act differently if researchers are around. Fans may act different
if they know they are being watched by a researcher. Also if all of the fans in the study are from
the same area, it is likely that they have the same favorite teams and those fans may have the

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tendency to act similar. If the participants are found in a bar, they may not be loyal to the team
they are watching but instead just watching the game because it’s what is on.
Future Research: Future researchers should focus on one sport in order to decide if one’s sports
fans are more loyal than another’s. Fan loyalty is not the same throughout all four of the major
sports. Fan loyalty may differ between sports. Future researchers should include more sports,
namely soccer; for example, the pride that the European fans have for their teams. Soccer is the
sport that the entire continent follows. Future researchers should have participants take a
personality test, and use that to measure their personality type and fan loyalty
Interview
1. Do you consider yourself a die-hard fan of one or more professional sports teams?
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
2. How long have you been a fan of that sports team/teams?
3. Why are you a fan of that sports team/teams?
4. How often do you watch televised games?
5. On average, how much money do you spend annually on team merchandise?
6. Have you ever attended a game? If so, how often do you go to games?
7. Does any family or close friends follow the same professional team/teams?
8. When referring to your favorite team/teams do you use “we” or “they”?
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