Which Team Do You Pick When You Live Half-Way Between Two Big-League Cities?

A Study of Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames Fans in Red Deer, Alberta

Authors

  • Craig Hyatt Brock University
  • Blair Cipywnyk

Keywords:

sport fans, National Hockey League, sport consumer behavior

Abstract

Previous sport consumer behavior research has found it common for fans to cheer for the closest teams. However, little is known about how fans living equidistant between two teams in the same league would pick one over the other to support. To address this question, National Hockey League (NHL) fans in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada were studied, as Red Deer is equidistant between the NHL cities of Edmonton and Calgary. 12 fans of either the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames were interviewed to ascertain how they became fans of one team and not the other. Four main antecedents to their team fandom were discovered: family influence, team success, underdog status, and place attachment. While the first three reinforced findings from previous studies, finding place attachment as an antecedent to Oilers and Flames fandom proved interesting, as previous studies list place attachment as a reason to support a team if the fan lives in the city or region that is home to their favorite team. In Red Deer, none of the 12 fans had ever lived in either Edmonton or Calgary, but many of them described how place attachment to those cities led to fandom formation to that city’s team. The findings of this study add to the body of sport consumer behavior knowledge by helping academics better understand some of the nuances of fandom formation in an atypical context.

Author Biography

Craig Hyatt, Brock University

Brock University, Department of Sport Management, Associate Professor

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Published

2021-11-10