Fan engagement beyond game outcomes: evidence from collective rituals and athlete-idolizing fandom in the digital sportscape

Purpose Match outcomes are inherently uncertain and largely beyond the control of sport organizations; yet, defeats can negatively affect spectators’ emotions and subsequent behavioral intentions. This highlights the need to understand how sport organizations can sustain fan engagement through experiences that are not contingent on game outcomes. This study examines how outcome-independent forms of fan engagement – collective fan rituals and athlete-idolizing fandom activities – are associated with spectators’ word-of-mouth (WOM) and revisit intentions following match defeats in professional sport. Drawing on emotion regulation theory, the study focuses on experiential mechanisms that may sustain behavioral intentions beyond game outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 405 spectators who had recently attended a Korea Baseball Organization League match in which their supported team was defeated. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships. Multi-group analysis (MGA) compared spectators experiencing high versus low levels of post-match negative emotion. The model also includes team identification and objective team standing as control variables. Findings Satisfaction with collective fan rituals was positively associated with both WOM and revisit intention. Enjoyment of fandom activities positively influenced WOM but had no direct effect on revisit intention, indicating a fully mediated pathway through WOM. WOM was a significant predictor of revisit intention. MGA showed no significant differences between high- and low-negative-emotion groups, suggesting that the structural relationships are stable across emotional conditions. Objective team standing was not significantly related to WOM or revisit intention. Originality/value The findings indicate that participatory fan engagement can contribute to behavioral intentions following defeat through outcome-independent experiential pathways. Rather than being driven primarily by game results or season-level performance, fan behavioral continuity appears to be shaped by ritualized stadium experiences and digitally extended fandom activities, which operate through social diffusion via WOM. The study extends sport consumer behavior research by highlighting the role of experiential engagement and communication processes in sustaining attendance intentions in performance-volatile contexts.