IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v35y2024i1d10.1007_s11002-023-09702-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sports fandom in the metaverse: marketing implications and research agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Raeesah Chohan

    (University of Cape Town)

  • Ellen Schmidt-Devlin

    (University of Oregon)

Abstract

The metaverse is transforming how sports fans consume sports, express their fandom, and interact with sports brands representing professional sports leagues, teams and athletes. However, scholars and practitioners lack an understanding of how sports brands can effectively appeal to their fans using the metaverse. This conceptual study aims to address this gap by combining marketplace evidence and extant research through the lens of social identity theory. The study suggests that sports brands should engage their fans in the metaverse by offering exclusive experiences that strengthen fans’ identification as a fan, facilitating opportunities for fans to demonstrate their fandom and reinforce their association with the fan community, and fostering immersive experiences that enable fans to interact with each other and the sports brand. This study outlines several potential areas for future research based on three themes, namely experiences, personalization, and inclusivity. By addressing these areas, sports brands can better understand and optimize their engagement strategies with fans using the metaverse.

Suggested Citation

  • Raeesah Chohan & Ellen Schmidt-Devlin, 2024. "Sports fandom in the metaverse: marketing implications and research agenda," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09702-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-023-09702-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-023-09702-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-023-09702-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giang Barrera, Kevin & Shah, Denish, 2023. "Marketing in the Metaverse: Conceptual understanding, framework, and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    2. Toder-Alon, Anat & Icekson, Tamar & Shuv-Ami, Avichai, 2019. "Team identification and sports fandom as predictors of fan aggression: The moderating role of ageing," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 194-208.
    3. Bob Heere & Jeffrey D. James, 2007. "Stepping Outside the Lines: Developing a Multi-dimensional Team Identity Scale Based on Social Identity Theory," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 65-91, January.
    4. Russell W. Belk, 2013. "Extended Self in a Digital World," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 477-500.
    5. Anat Toder-Alon & Tamar Icekson & Avichai Shuv-Ami, 2019. "Team identification and sports fandom as predictors of fan aggression: The moderating role of ageing," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 194-208, April.
    6. Reto Hofstetter & Emanuel Bellis & Leif Brandes & Melanie Clegg & Cait Lamberton & David Reibstein & Felicia Rohlfsen & Bernd Schmitt & John Z. Zhang, 2022. "Crypto-marketing: how non-fungible tokens (NFTs) challenge traditional marketing," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 705-711, December.
    7. Chohan, Raeesah & Paschen, Jeannette, 2023. "NFT marketing: How marketers can use nonfungible tokens in their campaigns," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 43-50.
    8. Belk, Russell & Humayun, Mariam & Brouard, Myriam, 2022. "Money, possessions, and ownership in the Metaverse: NFTs, cryptocurrencies, Web3 and Wild Markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 198-205.
    9. Rami Alkhudary & Bertrand Belvaux & Nathalie Guibert, 2023. "Understanding non-fungible tokens (NFTs): insights on consumption practices and a research agenda," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 321-336, June.
    10. Li, Sen & Chen, Yan, 2023. "How nonfungible tokens empower business model innovation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 543-554.
    11. Heere, Bob & James, Jeffrey D., 2007. "Stepping Outside the Lines: Developing a Multi-dimensional Team Identity Scale Based on Social Identity Theory," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 65-91, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heidemann, Gerrit & Schmidt, Sascha L. & von der Gracht, Heiko A. & Beiderbeck, Daniel, 2024. "The impact of the metaverse on the future business of professional football clubs – A prospective study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    2. Josef Welzmueller & Sascha L. Schmidt, 2024. "Consumer identification: an interdisciplinary review of the marketing and sport management literature and future research agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 439-485, February.
    3. Kim, Jungkeun & Cho, Areum & Lee, Daniel Chaein & Park, Jooyoung & Kim, Aekyoung & Jhang, Jihoon & Kim, Changju, 2025. "Consumer preferences for the visual presentation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of luxury products: the role of perceived authenticity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126230, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Gleim, Mark R. & McCullough, Heath & Gabler, Colin & Ferrell, Linda & Ferrell, O.C., 2025. "Examining the customer experience in the metaverse retail revolution," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    5. Li, Wenjie & Corral de Zubielqui, Graciela & Rao Hill, Sally, 2025. "Unlocking the potential of NFTs in branding: An exploration of NFT-based brand experience," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Yogesh K. Dwivedi & Nir Kshetri & Laurie Hughes & Nripendra P. Rana & Abdullah M. Baabdullah & Arpan Kumar Kar & Alex Koohang & Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete & Nina Belei & Janarthanan Balakrishnan & Sripa, 2023. "Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 2071-2114, October.
    7. Keegan, Brendan James & McCarthy, Ian P. & Kietzmann, Jan & Canhoto, Ana Isabel, 2024. "On your marks, headset, go! Understanding the building blocks of metaverse realms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 107-119.
    8. Kim, Jungkeun & Cho, Areum & Lee, Daniel Chaein & Park, Jooyoung & Kim, Aekyoung & Jhang, Jihoon & Kim, Changju, 2025. "Consumer preferences for the visual presentation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of luxury products: The role of perceived authenticity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Ahn, Suhyoung & Ellie Jin, Byoungho & Seo, Hyesim, 2024. "Why do people interact and buy in the Metaverse? Self-Expansion perspectives and the impact of hedonic adaptation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Wannow, Stefanie & Beck, Chiara, 2023. "Marketing in the Metaverse: Exploring marketing opportunities and potential pitfalls," PraxisWISSEN Marketing: German Journal of Marketing, AfM – Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Marketing, vol. 8(01/2023), pages 57-76.
    11. Lee, Crystal T. & Shen, Yung-Cheng, 2024. "Exploring determinants of non-fungible token creators’ engagement behaviors on metaverse-based NFT platforms: A multi-analytical SEM-IPMA method," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    12. Li, Sen & Chen, Yan, 2024. "Governing decentralized autonomous organizations as digital commons," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    13. Patrick Nicolas Tinguely & Yash Raj Shrestha, 2024. "NFT-enabled organization design: prospects, promises and hurdles," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 13(1), pages 23-31, March.
    14. Kim, Do Yuon & Lee, Ha Kyung & Chung, Kyunghwa, 2023. "Avatar-mediated experience in the metaverse: The impact of avatar realism on user-avatar relationship," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    15. Parth Salunke & Varsha Jain & Jacqueline Eastman & Tatsita Mishra & Amrita Chakraborty, 2025. "Decoding the effectiveness of social media influencers’ endorsement on consumer behavior: an evidence-based approach," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 2309-2345, June.
    16. Liyanaarachchi, Gajendra & Mifsud, Matthieu & Viglia, Giampaolo, 2024. "Virtual influencers and data privacy: Introducing the multi-privacy paradox," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    17. D. Mladenovic & E. Ismagilova & R. Filieri & Y. Dwivedi, 2024. "MetaWOM – toward a sensory word-of-mouth (WOM) in the metaverse," Post-Print hal-04582457, HAL.
    18. Kim, Jungkeun & Cho, Areum & Baek, Tae Hyun & Park, Jooyoung & Bae, Joonheui, 2025. "The effect of NFT visual quality on consumer evaluations of luxury goods in the metaverse," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128334, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Ke Xue & Xiaotian Lu & Boyuan Wang, 2025. "Trend of owning the intangible: the mediating role of psychological ownership in cultural consumption within blockchain ecosystems," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Yilmaz, Tuba & Sagfossen, Sofie & Velasco, Carlos, 2023. "What makes NFTs valuable to consumers? Perceived value drivers associated with NFTs liking, purchasing, and holding," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09702-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.