The rise of digital innovations in the sports industry has led to the growing adoption of fan tokens, offering sports organisations new ways to engage with their fans. As these digital assets gain traction, understanding the factors that influence their acceptance becomes increasingly critical. Thus, this study uses the Technology Acceptance Model to explore the roles of fan identity and the perceived risk in shaping fan token acceptance and aims to examine their effect on the behavioural intentions of football fans.
Data were gathered from a sample of football fans (n = 360) representing eight Brazilian clubs that issue official fan tokens through the Socios.com platform. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypothesized relationships within the proposed framework with bootstrapping techniques applied to assess the robustness of the estimates and examine the mediating effects of key variables on behavioural intentions.
The results highlight the key role of TAM in predicting fan token adoption. Technological acceptance emerged as a strong predictor of both word-of-mouth communication and fan purchase intentions. Fan identity demonstrated a significant positive influence on fan token acceptance and purchase intention. Moreover, fan token acceptance was found to mediate the relationship between fan identity and behavioural intentions, indicating that fans with strong identification are more likely to adopt tokens from their sports clubs.
This study advances theoretical understanding by incorporating fan identity, trust and perceived risk into the extended TAM framework. Our findings highlight the critical importance of trust-building strategies and effective risk mitigation in promoting fan adoption of technology and strengthening their behavioural intentions. The fan token industry should recognize the well-established and mediating role of technological acceptance while strengthening trust and leveraging fan identity to build deeper, value-driven connections.
