“Count the Ways That It Impacts Your Life”: New Parenthood and Sport Fandom

in Journal of Sport Management
Aaron C. Mansfield*,1
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  • 1 University of Massachusetts Amherst
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0285
Keywords:
consumer behavior; fan identification; identity theory
First Published Online:
08 Jan 2020
In Print:
Volume 34: Issue 5
Page Range:
462–474
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Scholars have begun exploring how parenthood impacts individuals’ sport fandom. Limited work to date, however, has considered such a question in light of new parenthood. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine how new parent sport fans negotiate their multiple identities. To this end, I completed semi-structured long interviews with 27 sport fans with young children (i.e., individuals presently raising children of age 0–6 years). Drawing on the social–psychological foundations of identity theory, I examined these new parents’ salience hierarchy negotiation. I identified and analyzed two consumer groups: Maintainers (who have sustained the centrality of their fan identity despite a change in life circumstances) and Modifiers (who have “de-escalated” their fandom). These new parents’ voices are used to guide the findings. This study advances the theoretical understanding of how parenthood impacts fandom and illuminates how the sport industry can optimally serve new parent sport fans.

The author is with the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA.

Mansfield (amansfield@umass.edu) is corresponding author.

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