King James holds court: A qualitative examination of the athlete brand community phenomenon

While superstar athletes’ relatable personalities, on-field achievements, and attractive brand image facilitate a direct connection with the target demographic, little is known about how this indelible bond manifests itself in athlete brand communities. The literature concerning identification among like-minded consumers through systematic functions in athlete brand communities and associated psychological benefits is virtually non-existent. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the practices of consumers within an athlete brand community, relationships with the focal athlete brand, and multifaceted emotional benefits derived from shared community experiences. The author conducted 31 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with purposefully selected members of a LeBron James fan club and analyzed related documents associated with the studied athlete brand community. Four prevalent themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews including athlete brand community adoption, culture, ideological uniformity, and sustainable development. This endeavor represented an initial attempt to explore how brand communities function in the context of athletes as focal brands

Monetizing Athlete Brand Image: An Investigation of Athlete Managers’ Perspectives

In a highly competitive sport marketplace, personal branding is a top priority for athletes. Thusly, marketers should leverage athletes’ talents and influence in creative ways to maximize their earning potential. This research explored the attributes of a marketable athlete, as well as promotional strategies to help secure athlete sponsorships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected talent marketing practitioners with sport marketing agencies. The findings revealed relatable story, as well as perceived persona, as prevalent themes for a marketable athlete. Additionally, the themes of athlete-brand alignment and social media marketing were important to securing client promotion and sponsorships. These findings extended previous conceptualizations by illuminating the essential role of brand authenticity not only in quality of fan-athlete interaction, but in appeal to prospective sponsors

Game Attendance in Luxury: Purchase Motivations of Suites and Club Level Seating in Division I College Football

At the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, athletic departments generate revenues from ticket sales, and premium seating areas provide spectators with upgrades in exclusive parts of stadiums for a substantial fee. The focus of this study was to determine purchase motivations for college football premium seating, where emergent themes were discerned from data provided by actual premium seating users and expert athletic administrators. Results indicated the following prevalent themes (and sub-themes) on motivations to purchase luxury suites: experience (comfort and amenities, watching the game), entertainment (family and friends, corporate), prestige, and support. In club level seating, the results indicated purchase motivations included: watching the game (view, seat setting), upgraded amenities (climate comfort, food and beverages/alcohol), prestige, and support. Chiefly, the findings indicated college football premium seating spectators are distinct from general seating attendees, and expanded premium seating research beyond just administrator perceptions with corporate clientele in professional sport. Keywords: college football, FBS, luxury suites, club level seating, premium seating, attendance, motivators, sport consumer behavior, Division I, ticket sales &nbsp

Investigating the Differences in Twitter Content and Effectiveness Between Individual and Team Sport Athletes

While the existing literature has categorized Twitter conversations and examined gender differences in professional athletes¡¯ online self-presentation initiatives, researchers have neglected to examine the differences in Twitter presentation between individual and team sport athletes. This study examined the differences in self-promotional content and effectiveness of Twitter activity between individual and team sport athletes. The authors utilized content analysis to categorize Twitter activity while a comparison not only between different types of athletes but also within categories was conducted by analyzing composite variables. While the findings confirmed the existence of content contrasts in the promotional category, no significant differences were observed in the remaining tweet categories. The analysis of fan perceptions identified team athlete tweets as more effective aside from the promotional category. Independently, the professional category was found to be most effective amongst team athlete tweets, while the athlete exchange category was deemed most effective amongst individual athlete tweets. The current study contributed to the understanding of self-promotional tactics utilized by two categories of athletes (i.e., individual and team) through the investigation of content of tweets and fan perception analysis. Key implications for the academic field and the sport marketing industry and recommendations for future research were discussed

Game Attendance in Luxury: Purchase Motivations of Suites and Club Level Seating in Division I College Football

At the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, athletic departments generate revenues from ticket sales, and premium seating areas provide spectators with upgrades in exclusive parts of stadiums for a substantial fee. The focus of this study was to determine purchase motivations for college football premium seating, where emergent themes were discerned from data provided by actual premium seating users and expert athletic administrators. Results indicated the following prevalent themes (and sub-themes) on motivations to purchase luxury suites: experience (comfort and amenities, watching the game), entertainment (family and friends, corporate), prestige, and support. In club level seating, the results indicated purchase motivations included: watching the game (view, seat setting), upgraded amenities (climate comfort, food and beverages/alcohol), prestige, and support. Chiefly, the findings indicated college football premium seating spectators are distinct from general seating attendees, and expanded premium seating research beyond just administrator perceptions with corporate clientele in professional sport. Keywords: college football, FBS, luxury suites, club level seating, premium seating, attendance, motivators, sport consumer behavior, Division I, ticket sales &nbsp