Disenfranchised: When a Sport Franchise Relocates, What Happens to the Fans Who Are Left Behind?

Fan identity often depends on a team's location, with support for one's local sport team engendering civic pride and unity. Minimal prior research has examined how fans respond, and how those responses evolve over time, when their local team relocates to a different city. The present study examines social media discourse across 6 years to elucidate how public discourse and associated fan identity shifted in the aftermath of the St. Louis Rams’ relocation to Los Angeles. The results suggest that although winning breeds greater engagement, it may not help a franchise reclaim fans whose identities were ruptured by the departure and perceived betrayal of their former team. These findings have important theoretical implications for fan identity dissolution in addition to practical implications for franchise personnel seeking to maintain support from their previous locations’ fanbases.