An increasing number of team sport consumers around the globe follow foreign leagues, teams or athletes. These so-called satellite supporters may be loosely interested individuals or avid fans, they engage in diverse activities, and they have varying consumption behaviors. However, the extant research does not offer systematic classifications of the different subgroups of satellite supporters, preventing team sport organizations from making efficient allocations of marketing resources in foreign markets. This research addresses this gap by providing a segmentation of satellite supporters that is based on the value that these supporters generate for team sport organizations. The segmentation considers dimensions of value that are both financial (i.e. transactional value) and non-financial (i.e. influencer value and relationship value). Based on data from a large-scale survey (N = 2,710) in four key international target markets (China, Japan, Germany, and the UK), a two-step cluster analysis identified three segments: High Value Satellite Fans, Mid Value Satellite Supporters, and Low Value Satellite Casuals. We discuss these segments as well as the managerial and theoretical implications of the study.

Mass sport participation has received considerable attention in the recent sport management literature. However, little is known about sport spectatorship as an outcome of sports mega-events (SMEs). This is the first study to use cross-cultural analysis to examine the relationship between the 2002 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Korea/Japan and current football spectatorship in the host countries. In the context of SMEs, this study uses the psychological construct of nostalgia as a mediator to identify the relationship with spectatorship. Data from 416 and 408 respondents from South Korea and Japan, respectively, were collected through online surveys and analysed cross-culturally using Hayes’ PROCESS macro model 4. We find that the nostalgia evoked by the 2002 World Cup has positively influenced the host nations’ current football spectatorship. While this SME has a strong impact on evoking nostalgia, the effect of nostalgia on spectator behaviour is significant, yet comparatively weak.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of two sponsorship purpose articulations (commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) on attitude toward the sponsor via sponsor–property fit and the moderating effect of the overlapped mission between the sponsor and the property.Design/methodology/approach: A 2 (purpose articulation type: commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) × 2 (mission overlap articulation condition: present vs absent) between-subjects experimental design with a control condition was employed with student sample (n = 171). The moderated mediation model was tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro model 8.Findings: The commercially oriented purpose articulation did not improve sponsor–property fit as much as the noncommercially oriented purpose articulation, resulting in less favorable attitudes toward the sponsor. When the mission overlap was simultaneously articulated, the less positive effects of the commercially oriented purpose articulation were weaker.Practical implications: The findings provided incongruent sponsors with insights on mixed articulation strategies with sponsorship purposes and the overlapped mission.Originality/value: This study extends previous research by presenting the first understanding of the different processes in which two sponsorship purpose articulations developed attitudes toward the sponsor via sponsor–property fit and by investigating the moderating effect of the simultaneously articulated mission overlap on the processes.

This research examined the effect of perceived well-being from a spectator experience on the intention to attend a sporting event, and the moderating effects of structural constraints on attending ...