Inventing Team Tradition: a Conceptual Model for the Strategic Development of Fan Nations

Abstract

Abstract While the strong support of local fans will always be an important concern for big-league professional teams, new technologies are making it easier for distant fans to learn about and begin following teams from afar. To better ensure financial viability into the twenty-first century, we argue that major professional teams should create a strategy to build a fan nation containing both local and distant loyal fans. We argue that teams should invent traditions to entice both local and far-flung casual, and non-fans to become loyal members of a team's fan nation. The recent actions of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers are used as a case study of how a team can use the invention of tradition to expand and enhance its fan base.