THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE SPORT CONSUMPTION MOTIVES AND POINTS OF ATTACHMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM FANS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between online sports consumption motives and points of attachment of professional football team fans and to determine whether these factors differ according to demographic variables. The study population consisted of fans of professional football teams competing in the 2017-2018 Turkish football season. A total of 226 football fans (50 female and 176 male) participated in the study selected by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using a form consisting of the Motivation Scale for Sport Online Consumption (MSSOC), Points of Attachment Index (PAI), and demographic questions. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analyses, were conducted using SPSS 23.0. The results showed that the “team” sub-dimension (X? = 6.03 ± 1.31) had the highest mean among points of attachment, and these attachment points varied significantly according to gender and age. Similarly, the “team support” sub-dimension (X? = 5.43 ± 1.48) recorded the highest mean among online sports consumption motives, and these motives showed significant differences by gender but not by age. Moreover, low-level negative correlations were observed between certain points of attachment and some sub-dimensions of online sports consumption motives. However, a low-level positive correlation was found between the “team” sub-dimension of PAI and the “economic” sub- dimension of MSSOC.