Canada is still buzzing from the Blue Jays’ first trip to the World Series in 32 years. And this energy reminds all of us in the sports industry just how powerful fandom is.

Very few industries see the same emotional connectivity between companies and their audiences. Fewer industries develop strong customer affinity through moments that resonate over a lifetime. Even fewer organizations can “inherit” customers like sports teams do, as fans pass down their passion and connectivity to sports teams from generation to generation. These teams experience cycles of wins, then losses and lulls; yet their fandom persists. How many companies suffer market losses for years, yet still manage to maintain shareholder confidence?

Deloitte’s sports leaders reflect on what fandom means and how organizations can use it to score their next win.

What does fandom mean in sports?

A fan is a passionate, devoted consumer of a specific interest who finds a sense of community, identity, and joy with likeminded individuals. Fandom in sports represents communities built around a shared emotional connection to teams, athletes, and sports brands.  

But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to nurture and measure fandom for long-term brand equity and sustained engagement.

Nurturing fandom requires meeting and exceeding fans’ highest expectations. Remember, you’re not competing with rival teams for fans—they already love your brand! But you are competing with time. Fragmented attention spans, cultural shifts, and fans’ demand for authenticity and personalization further complicate traditional engagement models.

Measuring fandom is tricky. How do you capture and quantify the depth of emotional resonance that drives fandom and lifetime value? How do you monitor shifts in fan behaviour? How do you predict personalized opportunities to create memorable moments for fans? Teams must go beyond traditional metrics surrounding social engagement and expand to cultural relevance and lifestyle.

Sports brands are experiencing a rapid pace of change in fan interests and expectations. But alongside it, opportunities to leverage modern technology, data, and AI. Today, it’s much more accessible for organizations to monitor and measure fandom:  

Here are Deloitte’s four “bases” of fandom that Canadian leagues and teams can go to bat for:

Four “bases” for the fandom metric  

1. Fan engagement

Engagement measures the depth, frequency, and quality of interactions between fans and sports brands across digital, physical, and emotional touchpoints. This looks like game attendance, participation in gamification experiences, and purchasing merchandise.

How can sports brands leverage peak moments to enhance engagement and create a stronger fandom? We can look at a few examples of peak engagement moments that help sports brands understand value drivers and deliver more personalized experiences.

Toronto Tempo, a WNBA expansion team, hasn’t yet played a game; yet they’re engaging their fans with digital content and personalized experiences. The Blue Jays saw record viewership this year; 1/6th of Canada’s population, and with it, new opportunities to capitalize on the moment. The Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) recently noticed a growing fanbase for the Stampeders was women and responded with more inclusive spaces and event formats to appeal to a diverse viewership.¹

What good looks like: Rich data can create fan profiles, which inform personalized fan experiences. As a result, fans show repeated attendance at games and participate in team digital experiences.

2. Cultural relevance

Fans express cultural relevance through their emotional investment, social media discourse, fan art, cosplay, and community organizing. Brands that tap into cultural moments and narratives can build loyalty that transcends wins and losses.

Canadian teams and leagues should consider how they tap into the diverse tapestry of Canadian values. This doesn’t just include race or ethnic identities, but can extend to people with disabilities, cultural groups, as well as more casual hobbies and fan communities. As Canadian diversity is representative of a global community, it might also help shape opportunities for Canadian sports brands internationally.

For example, Shohei Ohtani’s presence in MLB drove a 146% increase in Asian American viewership during the 2024 World Series. By aligning with the values and interests of their communities, organizations can maintain a meaningful presence in fans’ lives.

What good looks like: Teams must reflect on the values within their fandom to see how they can capture value from peak moments. When successful, fans see themselves reflected in the team’s characters, stories, or values.

3. Extensibility

Extensibility measures a sports team’s ability to extend fan experiences through adjacent brand opportunities. The result? More fan touchpoints that generate additional revenue. This includes merchandise, immersive experiences, digital content, licensing deals, and cross-platform storytelling.

Canadian leagues and clubs can invest in creative extensions of their brand to tap into the communities of their fandom. One example is how Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) redesigned all its logos on social media to pay tribute to the Blue Jays on their most recent World Series run.

Another great example is the Inaugural Stampede Bowl. The event presents a unique platform to merge fan affinity from both the Calgary Stampeders and the Calgary Stampede. Fans were treated to an elevated event that included pre- and post-concerts, a custom trophy, and a high-calibre half-time show, delivering a truly iconic experience.

What good looks like: Sports teams generate stronger affinity and fan engagement across licensing, digital content, experiential activations like theme parks, and brand partnerships, all of which lead to revenue.

4. Audience value

Audience value is the cumulative financial and strategic impact of a fan base over time. Different audience segments interact with a sports organization in different ways; some with more reach and value than others.

Canadian teams and leagues must enrich their understanding of their audiences and build on the audience data available to them. This involves exploring new ways to learn about their fans, and unique avenues to develop stronger affinity and brand trust.

This pursuit will help you deliver more personalized experiences to these segments with stronger affinity toward your brand. Nurturing these segments allows them to leverage their network strength and influence within their own communities, as they’ll become your brand advocates.

Segmented campaigns can generate up to 760% higher ROI compared to regular outreach.³

What good looks like: Rich fan data gives sports brands a more accurate understanding of what their fans value, and which segments are their biggest supporters. Fans feel heard, understood, and valued enough to advocate for your brand across their networks.

How Deloitte can help

Our sports leaders have worked tirelessly to quantify metrics for each of these components of fandom. Building these capabilities requires institutionalizing how data is used to measure and monitor fandom, and adapt to evolving priorities.

Teams and leagues focusing on a fandom approach might look to unlock and inform:

• Unified fan profiles
• Scaled and recommended content
• Sponsorship and media rights deals
• Unique partnerships
• Enriched fan engagement
  

Hit your next home run with fandom metrics

Fans do not live in silos; they navigate across sports, music, gaming, and streaming platforms. Canadian sports organizations have a real privilege with fandom, and nurturing it can deliver incredible results across your entire organization.

Ready to hit a grand slam? Book a call with our leaders to hit all four of the fandom bases.