Does it Matter if Sport Fans “Root for the Home Team”? A Test of the Team Identification – Social Psychological Health Model

The team identification-social psychological health model outlines that fans of local sport teams are more likely to experience feelings of social connectedness compared to fans of distant teams. We tested this proposition across two sufficiently-powered studies. In both studies, sport fans (Study 1 N = 291, Study 2 N = 430) completed online surveys assessing their levels of identification with a favorite sport team and social connections derived from their fandom for that team. Team localness was operationalized based on team location (Study 1) or responses to survey questions assessing team localness (Study 2). In both studies, the positive association between team identification and social connectedness was not moderated by team localness. This research contributes to the TI-SPHM and to our general understanding of fan behavior by showing that the social benefits of being a highly identified sport fan are not limited to fans of local teams.