Recognize loyalty

Sport loyalty isn’t necessarily about winning fans’ preference. Most fans have already chosen a team based on where they grew up, where they live currently, family tradition, or team performance. Instead, the objective is for teams to deepen their engagement with their existing fan base and, in doing so, make the fan experience attractive to potential fans who had not previously been engaged  (Giorgo et. al, Deloitte, 2016). (Sport-) loyalty can be seen as the degree of loyalty of a consumer or user to a product (brand) or a service (provider). According Dick and Basu (1994) loyalty has two components: a behavioral component and an attitude component. The attitude component consists of a positive attitude towards the product and / or service, which is reflected in positive recommendations to others, such as positive word of mouth, which could enhance the reputation of the brand. Behavioural loyalty comprises indicators related to action behaviour (e.g. frequency and duration of participation). Behavioural loyalty for example when a customer continues to buy/use a particular product, service or brand. 

In sport, creating fans sports loyalty through relations is one of the most important aspects of a club or stadium. Relationship with the fans has received much attention because it is has been considered that if there is a high value for fans, other stakeholders, in turn, will be able to extract value. Offering sport fans bigger, better, and more thrilling experiences and amenities—specifically ones that they can’t get at home—is becoming a clear way to a fan’s loyalty and attendance. It’s important event organisers or football teams recognize, reward, and record each fan interaction loyalty to view fan engagement efforts as a continuous process—not something that’s executed once and fed on later  (Dimentional Innovations, 2018). The natural loyalty that exists in the realm of sports is something that brands in other industries look to with envy (Deloitte, 2019).

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Literature