Football fans as place ambassadors: analysing the interactions between Girona FC and its fan clubs after its purchase by city football group (CFG)

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to analyse the relationship between ‘place identity’ and the configuration of the identity of Girona FC fans, a franchise of the City Football Group (CFG), which is the main entertainment football holding according to Forbes list. The authors sent a questionnaire to all of the 24 supporters’ clubs of Girona FC in order to analyse how they value the influence of a global holding on a historic Catalan club (founded in 1930) and to understand the main factors that create engagement between the supporters’ clubs and the organization. Additionally, two in-depth interviews were conducted with the Director of Communication and Chief Communication Officer of CFG. This research concludes that third-party endorsement of CFG by the Girona FC local public is not robust due to the specific characteristics related to the regional identity of a historic professional Spanish football club.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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2. Ibid; Tremlett, ‘Manchester City’s plan for global domination’, The Guardian, 15 December 2017 h ttps://ww w.thegu ardian.com/news/2017/d ec/15/manchester-city-football-group-fe rran-soriano; and Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entrete nimen t.

3. Ginesta, La disneyització del futbol, 113.

4. Kerr and Wijeratne, ‘New Football Franchise’, 202–217.

5. EFE, ‘El Girona FC consigue el capital social para convertirse en SAD’, Marca, 7 July 2009 https://www.marca.com/2009/07/30/futbol/equipos/girona/1,248,946,631.html

6. Hills, Fan Cultures, 9.

7. Crawford, Consuming Sport, 20.

8. Lee, ‘Spectacle and Fandom’, 196.

9. Ibid., 194–213.

10. Mignon, ‘Fans and Heroes’, 92.

11. Moller, ‘Reclaiming the game’, 211.

12. Giulianotti, ‘Sport Spectators’, 389–392.

13. Agudo and Toyos Rugarcía, Marketing del Fútbol, (Marketing Sectorial).

14. Ginesta, ‘Tecnologies de la Informació’, 173.

15. Crawford, Consuming Sport.

16. Ibid.,43.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid., 47.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid., 48.

21. Ibid., 49.

22. Malcolm, Jones, and Waddington, ‘People’s Game? Football Spectatorship, 130.

23. Ibid., 129–143.

24. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology, 138–139.

25. Ibid., 140.

26. Giulianotti, ‘Sport Spectators’, 386–410; Sandvoss, Mirror of Consumption; and Baena, ‘Global Marketing Strategy’, 660–674.

27. Giulianotti, ‘Sport Spectators’, 393–398.

28. Ibid., 403–405.

29. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology, 193.

30. Ibid., 195.

31. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

32. Baena, ‘Global Marketing Strategy’, 660–674.

33. Hannigan, Fantasy City; and Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology.

34. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology, 193.

35. Bauman, Liquid Life.

36. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology,196.

37. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

38. Best, ‘Liquid Fandom’, 80–92; and Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

39. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology, 197.

40. Ibid., 197–198.

41. Ibid., 200.

42. Best, ‘Liquid Fandom’, 83.

43. Ibid., 85.

44. Ibid.

45. Kerr and Wijeratne, ‘New Football Franchise’, 212.

46. Williams and Vaske, ‘Measurement of Place Attachment’, 381.

47. Gregory et al., Dictionary of Human Geography, 676.

48. Best, ‘Liquid Fandom’, 86.

49. Oppenhuisen and Van Zoonen, ‘Supporters or customers?’, 62–75.

50. Ibid., 71.

51. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

52. Ibid.; Robertson, Globalization: Social theory, 130.

53. Oppenhuisen and Van Zoonen, ‘Supporters or customers?’, 65.

54. Guschwan, ‘Limits of Participatory Culture’, 19–40.

55. Ibid., 35.

56. Ibid., 35

57. Ibid., 26.

58. Kelele, Girona FC; and Bassas, Girona: un Equip.

59. Sport, ‘El Empresario Boliviano Marcelo Claure Compra el 35% del Girona’, Sport, 28 August 2020, https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/girona/empresario-boliviano-marcelo-claure-compra-del-girona-8,091,029

60. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment,182.

61. Kerr and Wijeratne, ‘New Football Franchise’, 202–217.

62. Soriano, La Pilota No Entra Per Atzar.

63. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment, 184.

64. Girona, ‘El Girona es feminitza’, Girona FC, 4 March 2020, https://www.gironafc.cat/noticia/el-girona-es-feminitza

65. Menchén, ‘El Girona FC se lanza a por los Z para ganar masa social antes de ampliar el estadio’, Palco23, 3 January 2020. https://www.palco23.com/clubes/el-girona-fc-se-lanza-a-por-los-z-para-ganar-masa-social-antes-de-ampliar-el-estadio

66. Crawford, Consuming Sport, 47.

67. De Miguel, ‘La Entrevista en Profundidad’, 251–263; and Ginesta, ‘Tecnologies de la Informació’.

68. Information from Girona FC Communication Department.

69. De Miguel, ‘La Entrevista en Profundidad’, 253.

70. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

71. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment, 184.

72. Robertson, Globalization: Social theory, 130.

73. Bauman, Liquid Life, 29.

74. Information from Girona FC Communication Department.

75. Crawford, Consuming Sport, 49.

76. Palco23, ‘El Girona FC: Un Negocio Para La Provincia: 22,6 Millones de Impacto Económico En Un Año, Palco23, 3 May 2018, https://www.palco23.com/clubes/el-girona-fc-un-negocio-para-la-provincia-226-millones-de-impacto-economico-en-un-ano.html

77. Williams and Vaske, ‘Measurement of Place Attachment’, 830–840; and Oppenhuisen and Van Zoonen, ‘Supporters or customers?’, 62–75.

78. Guschwan, ‘Limits of Participatory Culture’, 19–40.

79. Best, ‘Liquid Fandom’, 89.

80. Oppenhuisen and Van Zoonen, ‘Supporters or customers?’, 63.

81. Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology, 196.

82. Agudo and Toyos Rugarcía, Marketing del Fútbol, (Marketing Sectorial); Soriano, La Pilota No Entra Per Atzar; and Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

83. Oppenhuisen and Van Zoonen, ‘Supporters or customers?’, 71.

84. Giulianotti, ‘Sport Spectators’, 386–410; and Crawford, Consuming Sport.

85. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

86. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entretenimen; and Kerr and Wijeratne, ‘New Football Franchise’, 202–217.

87. Ginesta, Les Multinacionals de l’Entreteniment.

88. Hannigan, Fantasy City; and Giulianotti, Sport: A Critical Sociology.

89. Maguire, Global sport: Identities, Societies.

90. Conn, D. ‘After the Super League fiasco: five reforms that could save the game’, 22 April 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/22/after-the-super-league-fiasco-five-reforms-that-could-save-the-game