I pride myself on the team’s success: navigating on the drivers for stimulating eFANgelism in sports industry

Purpose This paper aims to examine the interplay between psychological ownership (PO), basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) and eFANgelism within the context of the sports industry. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model was developed to generate hypotheses, which were tested quantitatively using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The model was tested with responses from 340 sports fans of Young Africans Sports Club and Simba Sports Club in Dodoma City, Tanzania. Findings The study found that highly engaged fans tend to view their sports team’s success as their own, even though they have not contributed directly to the team’s achievements. This suggests that PO is a source of BIRGing. Additionally, the findings revealed that BIRGing motivates sports fans to participate in eFANgelism. Originality/value By extending the concept of BIRGing into sports marketing, this paper demonstrates the significant role of BIRGing in driving sports fans’ involvement in promoting sports teams through eFANgelism. Furthermore, both theoretical and practical insights into the role of BIRGing in the causal relationship between PO and eFANgelism are essential for advancing sports marketing research.