Emerging trends in the use of the Internet – lessons from the football sector

Literature findings suggest a powerful role for Web sites in football club marketing. The authors used this as a springboard for an exploratory study which combined qualitative interviews with empirical observations of football Web sites. Links were discovered between clubs’ marketing orientation, departmental structure and subsequent Web site management. The size of the club was also found to be important, but more in relation to a lack of marketing presence than in relation to economic factors. Club motives for Web site development reflected the growing commercial development of football in the UK, with some clubs concentrating on ticketing and merchandising. Others concentrated on adding value to supporter services with devices such as daily news items. Relatively few clubs were gathering data on their supporters. These findings reflect differing awareness and attitudes of club managers towards relationship marketing with their supporters. A number of future research opportunities have been identified.