It's all about community: how new niche sports franchises can create highly engaged fans that are willing to pay more

Research questionNot only do new franchises often struggle on the field, but they also face significant challenges in building their fan base. This is especially true for franchises in a niche sport playing within a competitive market. This study investigates how a semi-professional American football team creates team identification through brand associations.Research methodsThis study surveys fans of the Munich Ravens, a newly established American football franchise playing in the European League of Football (ELF), to create regression models analyzing the impact of individual brand associations on team identification and team identification on fans' consumption intentions and willingness to pay.Results and FindingsResults show that highly identified fans are more likely to attend games and willing to do so at significantly higher prices. This process is driven by a distinct sub-set of brand associations that are particularly relevant in the early stages of franchise development in niche sport but are likely to change over time.ImplicationsAlthough the effects of fan identification and positive brand associations are well documented, this study provides a nuanced picture of their relationship within a new niche sport franchise operating in a competitive market. Integrating these results with previous research creates a body of knowledge from which generalizable findings might be extrapolated.