Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the factors responsible for social media fan engagement and experience. The research study also attempts to analyze the significance of adopting digital strategies with a fan-centric approach for sports organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with managers in different sports organizations and fans of various popular sports leagues and clubs in India. The authors used a qualitative exploratory approach by applying coding and thematic analysis to arrive at findings and conclusions.

Findings

The responses led to the emergence of three major themes comprising effective planning, harnessing fan participation and boosting the quality of experience. Building on these themes, the authors recommended the “PRIME” model for sports organizations.

Research limitations/implications

As this study explores the growing importance of fan engagement from the top three sports leagues in India, future researchers can focus on obtaining data from multiple countries and multiple leagues to enhance fan engagement's generalizability. Also with the growing popularity of eSports, the scope of the present study may be expanded based on eSports.

Practical implications

The authors' study acts as an eye-opener for managers revealing that to get active participation from fans, sports organizations will have to be active in social media initiatives. In addition to this, the authors also propose the PRIME model, which elaborates on the aspects of Planning social media programs, Regularization of content creation, increased Interaction with the fan base, Motivation through rewards and Enriching fan experience for effectively harnessing fan engagement and experience.

Originality/value

In the pandemic era, engaging with fans on social media can enable sports organizations to thrive. The authors suggest a “PRIME” model which can aid sports managers in effectively harnessing fan engagement and experience for the managers of sports organizations. The model can also be applied beyond the sports context in anchoring customer engagement and experience through the social media of other business organizations.

中文翻译：

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挥动球迷参与的火焰：应对体育组织数字化转型的策略

目的

本研究的目的是了解影响社交媒体粉丝参与度和体验的因素。该研究还试图分析采用以粉丝为中心的数字策略对体育组织的重要性。

设计/方法/途径

作者对印度不同体育组织的经理和各种流行体育联盟和俱乐部的球迷进行了 18 次半结构化访谈。作者使用定性探索方法，通过应用编码和主题分析得出调查结果和结论。

发现

这些回应导致了三大主题的出现，包括有效规划、利用粉丝参与和提升体验质量。基于这些主题，作者向体育组织推荐了“PRIME”模型。

研究局限性/影响

随着这项研究探索印度三大体育联盟的球迷参与度日益增长的重要性，未来的研究人员可以专注于从多个国家和多个联赛获取数据，以提高球迷参与度的普遍性。此外，随着电子竞技的日益普及，本研究的范围可能会基于电子竞技进行扩展。

实际影响

作者的研究让管理者大开眼界，揭示了要获得球迷的积极参与，体育组织必须积极参与社交媒体活动。除此之外，作者还提出了 PRIME 模型，该模型详细阐述了规划社交媒体计划、内容创建规范化、增加与粉丝群的互动、通过奖励激励和丰富粉丝体验等方面，以有效利用粉丝参与度和体验。

原创性/价值

在大流行时代，在社交媒体上与粉丝互动可以使体育组织蓬勃发展。作者提出了一个“PRIME”模型，它可以帮助体育管理者有效地利用球迷参与度和体育组织管理者的经验。该模型还可以应用于体育领域之外，通过其他商业组织的社交媒体来锚定客户参与度和体验。