How social is reshaping football fandom
How social is reshaping football fandom
"Football has spent years assuming the badge comes first and everything else follows. For a growing number of fans, the sequence has changed, and clubs should start creating for the people who have not fallen in love with them yet."
In his latest article for SportsPro, our senior director Chris Sadd explores how players, social content and wider culture are increasingly becoming the first point of connection between fans and clubs in football marketing.
Drawing on research from The Rise of the Second Club Fan [link], our latest report in collaboration with Engage Digital Partners, Chris argues clubs must treat social as their new front door—understanding what first sparked a fan’s curiosity and creating compelling routes from that initial moment to a lasting relationship with the club.
“A lot of clubs still use social as though everybody following already cares. That works for supporters who arrive with years of context, but it can leave very little for someone discovering the club for the first time,” argues Chris.
He continues, “Clubs have traditionally thought about fandom as something rooted in place and inherited over time. New research from MTM and Engage Digital Partners shows a broader picture. Fans now encounter clubs through individual players and wider culture, with digital platforms creating routes into fandom that barely existed a generation ago.”
Read the full article on SportsPro: Fans now discover clubs through players, content and culture
In focus at mtm
