ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the changing modes of fan interaction and activity facilitated by digital, mobile, gaming and video streaming technologies. Developing the concept of executive fandom and supported by an original case study of American football (the US-based Fan Controlled Football League), it shows that fans and supporters are encouraged to engage in an increasingly sophisticated range of mediatised and datafied interactions with teams, competitions and events. This process both reflects and constitutes important changes in how sociality is enacted and understood through media sport, and contributes to the acceleration of mediatisation processes in the wider social world. We argue that executive fandom is frequently aspirational – and even illusory – when it comes to fans exerting influence over sport and its politics, with technological novelty and commodification prioritised over fan-centred decision-making and control.
