You`ll Never Walk Alone: Israeli Basketball Fans` Motivation and Team Identification

Background: Research has addressed sports fans` motivation for supporting a team, and had attempted to forecast their behavior (Smith 1998; Wann and Branscombe 1993; Trail et. Al., 2003). Such studies were conducted in the United States and Europe (Trail and James, 2001; Robinson and Trail, 2005). The present study aims to expand that knowledge to understanding Israeli sports fans, and Israeli basketball fans particularly, a field where knowledge is still limited.

Aims: This study aims to classify fans of teams in the Israeli Basketball League by team identification and fan motivation, and to reveal predictors for team identification. Another aim is to measure commercial behavior in relation to team identification and motivational factors, ultimately proving a better understanding and an updated overview of the relationship between basketball fans and their teams.

Method: Participants were 627 Israeli basketball fans who completed a survey. Measures included Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC) (Trail and James, 2001) and The Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) (Wann and Branscombe, 1993). Participants were reached through snowball sampling, beginning members of Israel`s basketball community forum on Facebook.

Results: The findings suggest that the need for achievement and the need for social interaction are the key characteristics of devoted and fanatical fans. A significant positive correlation was found between the 'need to escape' and the SSIS.

Discussion and conclusions: The different types of sports fans that the literature describes explain the motivation and team identification of Israeli basketball fans. The types were reduced to a lean model of low-moderate-high as the SSIS suggests. The significance of the achievement and social factors enhance our understanding of team identification and group fans. The study further suggests that team identification and fans` motivation are strongly correlated to commercial behavior. This unique study may offer a theoretical framework for team identification of sports fans in Israel. Measuring Israeli basketball fans` motives and identification enables us to better understand the relationship between fans and their teams. It can also help the teams (i.e., sports marketers and sports managers) formulate their marketing strategies in a strategic and well-calculated way, creating a win-win situation for all. Future studies of the Israeli sports eco-system should be expanded to examine the role of teams’ management in building fans` identification and motivation.