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Explaining the Number of Social Media Fans for North American and European Professional Sports Clubs with Determinants of Their Financial Value

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolas Scelles

    (University of Stirling)

  • Boris Helleu

    (CesamS - Centre d'étude sport et actions motrices - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université)

  • Christophe Durand

    (CesamS - Centre d'étude sport et actions motrices - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université)

  • Liliane Bonnal

    (CRIEF [Poitiers] - Centre de recherche sur l'intégration économique et financière - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers)

  • Stephen Morrow

    (University of Stirling)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the explanatory variables of the number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers for professional sports clubs based on the financial value literature. Such explanatory variables are related to local market conditions and on-field and off-field performance. Based upon a sample of North American major league clubs and the most valuable European soccer clubs as evaluated by Forbes over the 2011–2013 period (423 observations), our results indicate a range of variables with a significant positive impact on the number of social media fans: population, no competing team in the market, current sports performance, historical sports performance, facility age, attendance, operating income, expenses/league mean, and being an English football club. An improved understanding of the effectiveness of clubs' social media presence is important for contemporary sport managers in terms of enhancing supporter communication, involvement, and accountability, as well as maximizing clubs' revenue generation possibilities. Our findings could help sport managers to realize their clubs' social media potential in pursuit of these objectives, specifically to understand which variables are under-exploited and why some clubs over-perform, which will allow managers to prioritize decisions to increase their number of social media fans and financial value.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Scelles & Boris Helleu & Christophe Durand & Liliane Bonnal & Stephen Morrow, 2017. "Explaining the Number of Social Media Fans for North American and European Professional Sports Clubs with Determinants of Their Financial Value," Post-Print hal-01987779, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01987779
    DOI: 10.3390/ijfs5040025
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01987779
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodney Paul & Andrew Weinbach & Nick Riccardi, 2019. "Attendance in the Canadian Hockey League: The Impact of Winning, Fighting, Uncertainty of Outcome, and Weather on Junior Hockey Attendance," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Pedro Garcia‐del‐Barrio & Carlos Gomez‐Gonzalez & José Manuel Sánchez‐Santos, 2020. "Popularity and Visibility Appraisals for Computing Olympic Medal Rankings," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2137-2157, September.
    3. Nicolas Scelles & Matthieu Llorca, 2021. "Leader Dismissal or Continuity, President Longevity, Geographic Orientation of Owners and Team Performance: Insights from French Men’s Football, 1994–2016," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Yan Feng & Jinbao Wang & Yeujun Yoon, 2020. "Online Webcast Demand vs. Offline Spectating Channel Demand (Stadium and TV) in the Professional Sports League," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial value; Facebook fans; Social media; Twitter followers; Professional sports clubs; On-field and off-field performance variables; Local market variables; North America; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission

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