ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the different groups of football customers and focuses on fans as a distinguished category. Football fans, whether local or international, form a major group of buying customers for the team sport product and are vitally important for the financial welfare of the team. This chapter explains the various factors that can influence their buying behaviours as well as their implications for the marketing strategies of the football clubs and organisations. At the end of this chapter, readers should be able to identify the different groups of football customers as well as discern the difference between fans and spectators and understand their impact on revenues. In addition, the chapter explores the personal, social, and psychological motives and highlights the external factors that can influence the behaviour of fans. At the end, the chapter discusses future challenges that will shape football fandom and puts forward their implications for football marketing.
