A few weeks ago, I wrote about groundhopping – that curious pastime where football fans behave less like loyal supporters and more like tourists with a bucket list. It’s all very engaging, they visit new towns, sample new pies and sing new chants … but it’s not football. It’s trainspotting for the cool crowd.
There’s another curveball looming for the old-school fanbase, and this one will sting a bit.
Apparently, a growing number of football fans, mainly younger ones (whisper this) don’t really care which team their favourite player runs out for. They’re player-first, club-optional, shirt-temporary. They’re all-in on the superstar.
The Kardashian influence has hit football; the Messi-Ronaldo effect has gone mainstream.. It’s here and it’s an opportunity as well as a threat.
Don’t dismiss this as a Gen Z quirk. It’s the logical next step in a world where fans follow creators, not platforms. Esports normalised it.
Football’s just catching up.
For decades, clubs have relied on tribalism to sell season tickets, shirts, and sponsor deals built on ‘City till I die’, ‘100% Blade’ and ‘No one likes us, we don’t care’. These weren’t just slogans but social glue. But how does that play out when your fans are following your stars to their next port of call?
So, what to do? The buzzword circling sport atm is ‘community’. This used to mean local activation, but in the digital age, it means owned data and genuine two-way engagement. But don’t confuse a community with a CRM; a community talks to itself, not just its curators.
Some clubs will double down on tradition and heritage and hope that doing what they have always done will suffice. Good luck with that.
Others will evolve, working harder to earn a place in fans’ hearts that goes deeper than a popular player.
The smart ones? They’re already there.
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