Purpose: With the remarkable advancements in information and communication technologies, comprehending online sport fan communities is being pushed further up in the agenda of sport teams worldwide. Based on social identity theory, the main purpose of this research paper is to test the mechanism of how horizontal relationships developed through online communities lead to vertical relationships such as team identification and behavioural intentions.Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of online baseball fan community members in South Korea (N = 400) and employing structural equations modelling, the current research examined the structural relations among online community identification, team identification, behavioural intention and WOM intention while testing moderating effect of perceived authenticity.Findings: This study finds that online community identification has a significant positive impact on team-level consumer outcomes: team identification, behavioural intention and WOM intention. Team identification is verified as a significant determinant of both behavioural intention and WOM intention. Moreover, the partial mediating role of team identification in the relationships between online community identification and behavioural intentions are corroborated.Originality/value: The present study furnishes essential information for identifying the underlying mechanism of how fan-to-fan horizontal relationships cultivate team-to-fan vertical relationships in the context of the virtual fan community.

Purpose: This study delves into the psychological processes underlying sport fans' post-purchase innovativeness behaviour. This exploratory research aims to establish a theoretical framework that elucidates the formation of sport fans' word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviours, particularly emphasising the structural relationship between motivated consumer innovativeness and satisfaction in using AR live-streaming services.Design/methodology/approach: Utilising an online survey and convenience sampling, the study garnered a total of 243 usable responses from three online baseball fan communities in South Korea. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the psychometric properties of the constructs. Subsequently, a structural equation model was used to probe the influence of motivated consumer innovativeness on WOM, with a particular focus on the mediating role of satisfaction.Findings: Three dimensions of motivated sport fans innovativeness – functional, hedonic and cognitive – showed a positive association with WOM, partly mediated by satisfaction. In contrast, socially motivated sport fans innovativeness did not directly lead to WOM but influenced it solely through satisfaction. The full mediating role of satisfaction in the relationship between socially motivated fans innovativeness and WOM was found.Originality/value: This research stands out as one of the scant studies exploring motivated sport fans innovativeness in the context of AR live sport streaming. The findings not only corroborate but also augment the extant literature by empirically confirming that three dimensions of motivated fans innovativeness, coupled with satisfaction, are pivotal antecedents to WOM intention.

Purpose: Enthusiasm for hosting mega sport events has been dampened mainly due to the opposition of local communities. Although the use of public relations that aims for two-way communication to build mutual understanding and the long-term relationship could be an effective tool in diminishing the opposition, little research exists that interprets the social concern with public relations theoretical lens. In this light, the primary purpose of the present study was to conceptualise government-public relationships in the context of mega sport events and to develop a valid and psychometrically sound scale to measure the relationship quality between two entities.Design/methodology/approach: An initial pool of 23 potential government-public relationship items was drawn through item generation processes, including research synthesis and content validity. Then, this study collected 254 respondents via online surveys and split the total sample into two sets for exploratory factor analysis and (n = 127) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 127).Findings: As a result, the scale of the government-public relationships consists of 17 items representing three dimensions: control mutuality, trust and satisfaction.Originality/value: The developed government-public relationship scale furnishes event marketers and researchers with a solid framework and a measurement tool for empirical examinations. The current research reveals that the dimensionality, reliability and validity of the three latent government-public relationships dimensions are satisfactory while failing to meet the general consensus that commitment is an important dimension of the existing organisation-public relationships scale.

This study investigates the efficacy of a psycho-educational curriculum package in enhancing the practitioners’ competence to support high-performance athletes’ career transitions. This curriculum was integrated into academic modules at higher education institutions in Singapore (n = 18) and the UK (n = 14). Using online pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, along with open-ended questions, participant feedback on the curriculum was collected. Paired t-tests were used to assess the within-group differences pre- and post-intervention and two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted to examine the between-group differences pre- and post-intervention. The results revealed a significant difference between pre- and post-intervention scores for four factors and for both countries: Singapore and the UK. The curriculum enhanced participants’ confidence in working with athletes and helped identify areas for development. Three key themes were identified from the thematic content analysis of open-ended responses: (a) informative and insightful content, (b) interactive and engaging delivery (strengths), (c) overlapping content, and reading demands and time constraints (areas for improvement). By incorporating this feedback, supported by the results, the current study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by furnishing insights into an effective psycho-educational curriculum for helping the career transitions of high-performance athletes.