From Fandom to Checkout, AI and Immersive Commerce in Sport
From Fandom to Checkout: How AI Could Change the Fan Relationship | Thetafan Intelligence
From fandom to checkout: what are we actually measuring? Sports organisations are becoming increasingly sophisticated at selling to fans.
The Rise of the Political Fandoms: What Happens When Voters Become Fans.
The Rise of the Political Fandoms: What Happens When Voters Become Fans | Thetafan Intelligence
Something changed in the way American politics looked during the 2026 midterms.
Fandom can really bring people together. Science is starting to measure it
Fandom can really bring people together. Science is starting to measure it | Thetafan Intelligence
If you have ever watched a big game in a packed stadium, a pub or even a room full of people you barely know, you will probably recognise the feeling. For a couple of hours, strangers have something in common. They celebrate together, complain together and somehow find themselves talking as though they have known each other for much longer.
What happens when social media becomes part of the evidence
What happens when social media becomes part of the evidence | Thetafan Intelligence
There was an interesting detail in the reporting from France this week that caught our attention at Thetafan.
How can platforms self-govern as social media bans spread
How can platforms self-govern as social media bans spread | Thetafan Intelligence
A board can count how many underage accounts its platform has removed yet still struggle to explain whether the experience has become safer.
Platforms can govern themselves more credibly by defining the outcomes they want, measuring the relationships their services encourage, and testing whether safeguards actually change those outcomes.
When technology recognises us, does it change how we behave
When technology recognises us, does it change how we behave | Thetafan Intelligence
A new study published in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing raises an interesting question for digital platforms: what happens when technology does more than identify a person and begins to influence how that person sees themselves? The research, “Identity awakening in digital marketing: how facial recognition interactions foster green consumption behavior,” examines how interactions with facial recognition technology can affect subsequent consumer choices.
Why Summer and Winter Olympic Fans Form Different Attachments
Why Summer and Winter Olympic Fans Form Different Attachments | Thetafan Intelligence
Every four years, the Olympics briefly gives the impression that millions of people are watching the same event for the same reason. Flags appear in windows, unfamiliar sports become essential viewing and athletes who were largely unknown a week earlier suddenly become national figures. From the outside, it can look like one enormous, unified audience gathered around the Olympic rings.
Children's Online Safety Regulation in the US - Why Laws Alone Won't Be Enough
Children's Online Safety Regulation in the US - Why Laws Alone Won't Be Enough | Thetafan Intelligence
As COPPA, KOSA and new state laws reshape children's online safety in America, regulation, technology and responsible self-regulation will need to work together. Meta Sued for Invasion of Privacy in Potential US$1T Class Action is a new beginning.
Why Brand Fandom Is Replacing Traditional Marketing
Why Brand Fandom Is Replacing Traditional Marketing | Thetafan Intelligence
For most of the modern marketing era, brands have worked to a fairly simple formula. Build awareness, explain why the product is different, repeat the message often enough and, eventually, persuade someone to buy. It is a model that has shaped everything from advertising budgets to customer funnels, and it still has a place. But it is becoming less effective in a world where people are surrounded by more messages, more content and more attempts to influence them than they can reasonably absorb.
How Fandom Influences Gen Z Consumer Behaviour and Brand Growth
How Fandom Influences Gen Z Consumer Behaviour and Brand Growth | Thetafan Intelligence
The science behind fan identity, belonging and the new economics of influence. Why does one story hold our attention while another loses us within seconds? Why does one person watch, enjoy and move on, while somebody else joins a community, creates content, buys merchandise and begins to treat the subject as part of their identity? These are no longer questions for entertainment companies alone.
When a Crowd Moves as One, Fandom Becomes an Economic Force
When a Crowd Moves as One, Fandom Becomes an Economic Force | Thetafan Intelligence
One of the most powerful images of the 2026 World Cup has not been a goal. It has been the crowds.
From Likes to Loyalty. The New Math of Fandom
From Likes to Loyalty. The New Math of Fandom | Thetafan Intelligence
For a long time, marketers treated a “like” as evidence. Evidence of attention. Evidence of interest. Sometimes, evidence of love.
Fandom is a financial asset and here's the formula that proves it
Fandom is a financial asset. Here's the formula that proves it | Thetafan Intelligence
New research proposes a quantitative model for valuing intellectual property based not on legal rights, but on the scale, intensity, and duration of fan communities.
355,000 Instagram posts reveal how football fans actually build identity online, and it matters right now
Fan Identity in the Digital Age: What 355,000 Instagram Posts Reveal | Thetafan Intelligence
New sports science research analysed 355,000 fan posts to uncover how supporters build identity online. Key insights for sport organisations during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
What the Music Industry Can Learn from Sports About Fans
What the Music Industry Can Learn from Sports About Fans| Thetafan Intelligence
This article from Rolling Stone explores how, in both music and sports, emotion is the currency. Fans don’t just buy tickets; they buy belonging. Adopting richer data and smarter tools doesn’t mean turning artists into leagues or fans into customers. It means protecting the integrity of the art by strengthening genuine connection. When data serves creativity and not commercialization alone, fandom becomes more meaningful, more sustainable and more human.
Genealogy of a Participatory Community and Spanish Fandom
Genealogy of a Participatory Community: Spanish Fandom | Thetafan Intelligence
This article examines the situation of the fandom in Spain, where the mass media and consumer culture developed under a dictatorship?
Corporate social responsibility interactivity and fan loyalty
Corporate social responsibility, interactivity and fan loyalty | Thetafan Intelligence
This study explores how corporate social responsibility (CSR) interactivity on social media affects value co-creation among sports fans and enhances the sustainable management of professional sports organizations.
Classifying and Characterizing Fandom Activities: A Focus on Superfans
Classifying and Characterizing Fandom Activities: A Focus on Superfans | Thetafan Intelligence
This article examines how digital fandom has grown alongside the rise of online communities, fueled by technologies that enable people with shared interests to connect more easily. Fans now gather on a diverse array of digital platforms, including dedicated forums such as Reddit, Twitch, Discord, and Tiktok, as well as typical social media groups on platforms like X and Instagram. Inevitably, fans’ participation in these environments spans a range of media-related behaviors—views, likes, shares, posts, comments, chatting, streaming, and more—that reflect their levels of engagement.
When fandom becomes a problem: Development of the Problematic Celebrity Fanship Scale
When fandom becomes a problem: Development of the Problematic Celebrity Fanship Scale | Thetafan Intelligence
There has been considerable research interest in the personality characteristics and mental health of individuals showing excessive levels of celebrity admiration. However, the conceptualization and measurement of potentially problematic levels of engagement with celebrities remain unclear. This study introduces and operationalizes the concept of problematic celebrity fanship within the theoretical framework of behavioral addictions.