33 Nos 3/4, pp. 23 No. Dos Santos etal. Nonspecific, Cycling, Rugby, Baseball, Basketball, Consumer Attitudes, Stakeholder Theory, Resistance Theory, Ritual Theory, Role-Model Theory, Cultural Capital Theory, Extraordinary Experiences, Spatial Dimension Theory, Image Transfer Theory, Attachment Theory, Environmental Psychology Theory, Network Theory, Symbolic Consumption Theory, Systems and Life World Theory, Hegemony Theory, Commercialization of the role of athletes, teams and fans, Professionalization and market-orientation of elite sport teams management, Athletes becoming star-players and their importance for team identity, Introducing consumption-oriented ideals on fans, Elite sports becoming an entertainment product, Global branding of athletes/players/teams, Increased presence and coverage from media and major broadcasters. This review also concludes that as many studies are based in Anglo-Saxon contexts, we lack a holistic understanding of the nature of commercialization of elite sports. 7, pp. 6, pp. Thus, commercialization can spur opportunities for teams and, or athletes to earn more profits and therein, to become more successful. This will bring in more fans, improve the profitability of local sports clubs, which in turn helps the local economy and revives community spirit when the team is performing well. 3, pp. 12 No. Thus, as stadiums increasingly contain commercial elements and become more convenient stages for sport consumption and to experience the sport, social aspects cannot be underestimated (Uhrich and Benkenstein, 2012). Commodification is closely related to commercialization and is often used to describe that in a process where commercial gains are increasingly prioritized, people, services, ideas, and objects, such as sports teams and fans, become commodities with market values (Numerato and Giulianotti, 2018). Regarding fan loyalty, several studies indicate that the commercialization of elite sports can affect the loyalty of fans. As there are increasing possibilities for female athletes to become professional, commercialization may be seen as something positive by the growing community of fans to women's elite sports. (2011), Foreign fandom and the Liverpool FC: a cyber-mediated romance, Soccer and Society, Vol. Gordon, K.O. On an overarching level, the results indicate that increasing commercialization can lead to both value-co-creation and value-co-destruction in these service ecosystems. Factors leading to increased commercialisation. The effects of the media on sport - Commercialisation in sport - AQA Woisetschlger etal., 2013) or critical theory. 324-348, doi: 10.1108/EJM-10-2014-0633. * Mason, D. (1999), What is the sports product and who buys it? Social media is an increasingly important platform for consumers and for brand-consumer interactions (Stieglitz etal., 2014), as well as for fan-to-fan and fan-to-team interactions (Wakefield and Bennett, 2018). 6 No. Resistance, described as a strategy of appropriation in response to the structures of domination (Woisetschlger etal., 2013, p. 1490), is often a central topic in critical papers (see, e.g. Commercialisation and Media Flashcards | Quizlet Click the card to flip . In addition, new sponsors may be perceived as a threat to existing fan identities, while sponsors that have remained with the team for a long time may be seen as an important part of fans' identity. Winell, E., Armbrecht, J., Lundberg, E. and Nilsson, J. To extend the scope of the search, we, based on an overview of related papers found in the preliminary stages of this review and the literature review on the concept of commercialization, included the following terms: Commodification, Marketization, Modernization and Globalization. 1, pp. 153-173. As shown in this review, commercialization is not unidimensional. 41 No. (2015), 'Rimi Bowl' and the quest for authenticity: fan autonomy and commodification in Norwegian football, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. It is exemplified in this review process by the strict criteria for including papers that explicitly addressed the impacts of commercialization on fans. European elite football (Numerato and Giulianotti, 2018). How are fans affected by the commercialization of elite sports? A and Backhaus, C. (2013), Fans' resistance to naming right sponsorships: why stadium names remain the same for fans, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. In the previous literature, other concepts are often interlinked to commercialization of elite sports, such as commodification, marketization, modernization and globalization. Advantages & disadvantages of commercialization in sports While more research is needed on fans to other team sports, focusing on more individualized elite sports, such as motor sports, tennis, golf and athletics, can also make substantial contributions to the literature, as they represent sports with other types of fan communities and traditions. The results also imply that most fans, at least in Germany, do not support what is seen as a significant involvement of private actors (Bauers etal., 2019). 6, pp. 133-150, doi: 10.1007/s11747-012-0308-3. (2020), Sports teams heritage: measurement and application in sponsorship, Journal of Business Research, Vol. He has published in journals such as International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Tourism Management, and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 34 Nos 17-18, pp. * Woisetschlger, D.M., Haselhoff, V.J. 203-240. He has also co-edited books on events for Routledge and Edward Elgar. Dixon, 2014; Kennedy, 2012). Sponsorship places on the team clothes increasing in worth, Transforming ownership structures of elite sport teams and increase in private owners, Private investors taking over to either make profits (e.g. In some contexts, fans may also perceive their sport, team, or athlete to be taken over by commercial ideals, which shifts the roles of fans to more passive consumers (e.g. This rise in commercialisation has almost become part of the modern game, but it is important to remember it has positive and negative effects on the sport, the players and the fans. Review of Literature In order to analyse the possible effects of commercialisation on fan loyalty, it is not sufficient to only take a closer look at the current situation. 703-720, doi: 10.1080/14660970.2015.1100436. 217-232, doi: 10.1080/14775085.2016.1231621. 443-460, doi: 10.1123/JSM.2013-0327. * Hewer, P., Gannon, M. and Cordina, R. (2017), Discordant fandom and global football brands: 'Let the people sing', Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol. For instance, Delia (2017) illustrates, in the context of cycling, that sponsors may be perceived as a crucial and beneficiary element of an elite sport team and to the fan's identification with the teams. The Positives and Negatives of Commercialism - GraduateWay Stieglitz, S., Dang-Xuan, L., Bruns, A. and Neuberger, C. (2014), Social media analytics, Business and Information Systems Engineering, Vol. 274-288, doi: 10.1080/14660970.2019.1597717. and Bennett, G. (2018), Sports fan experience: electronic word-of-mouth in ephemeral social media, Sport Management Review, Vol. 229-252, doi: 10.1080/01639620590905618. To understand how commercialization affects fans of elite sports, we perform a structured review. 181-198, doi: 10.1080/14775080802310223. There is a risk that the loyalty of poly supporters (Hognestad, 2012) and satellite fans (Behrens and Uhrich, 2019) could come at the cost of lost loyalty among local fans. * Giulianotti, R. (2005), Sport spectators and the social consequences of commodification: critical perspectives from Scottish football, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. Globalization of sports refers to the process of expansion of the idea of sport across the world and phenomena is how that are associated with it. 14 No. Elite sports have been subject to commercialization for many decades (Dubal, 2010; Hoehn and Szymanski, 1999).