Building Sports Brand and Fan Relationships Through Social Media During Covid-19 Pandemic and Post Pandemic Era

This study aims to investigate the measures taken by professional hockey clubs in Sweden for building brand and relationship with fans through social media (SM) during the global pandemic Covid-19. The study followed an inductive approach and qualitative method. Data were collected from officials and fans of three well-known Swedish Hockey league (SHL) teams through semi-structured interviews. A content analysis was undertaken to analyze the collected responses from the club officials and fans. The findings provide insight on the actions taken by the clubs to build their brand and fan relationships through SM. The study provides a framework signifying the important factors that sports organizations need to focus on while building their brand and fan relationships during a global pandemic and in the post pandemic era.