Key takeaways
- Fan experience covers the full spectrum of how supporters interact with a team or sports brand — from live match days through to digital content, merchandise, and social media.
- It's growing in importance because expectations are higher than ever. Fans want to feel part of the journey, not just spectators, and social media amplifies every positive or negative experience.
- Quantitative measures (NPS, CSAT, engagement rates, repeat attendance) tell you the what but not the why. Qualitative in-the-moment video research reveals the emotional highs and lows that shape loyalty.
- City Football Group uses Indeemo's journey mapping capabilities alongside Miro boards to map the fan journey end to end, and refine the match day experience based on real fan feedback.
- With Indeemo, sports brands can run diary studies, video journeys, and in-the-moment research to capture authentic fan emotion — and analyse submissions with generative AI to surface patterns quickly.
What is fan experience?
Fan experience refers to the overall perception supporters have when interacting with a sports team or brand, both in person and digitally. It covers everything from attending live matches to engaging with team content online, interacting on social media, and buying merchandise.
In a digitally connected world, fans expect personalised, engaging experiences that go beyond the game itself. That creates opportunities for sports brands to connect with fans on a deeper level than scoreline and ticket sales alone.
A central part of fan experience is the match day experience — everything fans encounter before, during, and after a game. This is essentially the customer journey, applied to sport. From ticket purchasing and stadium accessibility to food, entertainment, and in-stadium technology, the match day experience shapes fans' memories and loyalty to the team. The quality of this experience can directly influence fans' perception of the brand and their likelihood of returning for future games.
Why is fan experience growing in importance?
With increased competition and the rise of digital experiences, fan expectations are higher than they've ever been. Fans don't just follow their teams — they want to feel part of the team's journey. Beyond supporting a winning side, they look for brands that engage them emotionally and create a sense of belonging.
The significance of fan experience is also driven by social media, where fans instantly share experiences — positive or negative. That creates a ripple effect. One person's experience can influence the opinions of thousands. Brands that invest in fan experience see the payoff in loyalty and revenue: satisfied fans attend more games, buy more merchandise, and drive positive word of mouth.
How do you measure fan experience?
Measuring fan experience combines qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how fans feel about their interactions with a team.
Quantitative measures
- Net Promoter Score (NPS). A gauge of fans' likelihood to recommend the team to others, offering insight into loyalty.
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). A measure of overall satisfaction with specific touchpoints, such as the match day experience, online ticketing, or customer service.
- Engagement rates. Social media interactions, comments, shares, and mentions give a real-time pulse on fan sentiment.
- Repeat attendance. The rate at which fans return for multiple games — a reliable signal of loyalty and satisfaction.
These metrics are useful but often lack the nuance needed to understand fans' personal experiences and emotional highs and lows.
Qualitative approaches
Qualitative methods give you a richer, more immersive view of the fan journey.
In-the-moment video research captures real-time, video-based feedback from fans as they experience the game. This approach lets fans record their emotions, thoughts, and reactions as they happen — the excitement of a last-minute goal, the frustration of long lines, the thrill of a well-organised match day. By seeing facial expressions, hearing tone of voice, and observing environment, sports brands get a vivid, contextual understanding of the fan experience.
Diary studies and fan journals let fans document their entire journey over days or weeks, capturing every aspect of the experience. Fans share photos, videos, and reflections that reveal how their perceptions evolve, offering insight into long-term loyalty and engagement.
Interviews and focus groups provide a forum for deeper exploration into fan motivations, values, and expectations. Good qualitative interviews can uncover the emotional drivers behind game attendance or brand loyalty that surveys alone would miss.
Why does video research stand out?
Unlike surveys or static responses, in-the-moment video research is dynamic. It captures fans' raw, immediate experiences, and it lets brands observe both verbal and non-verbal cues. The result is a level of authenticity that's difficult to achieve with other methods.
Video research also delivers immediate contextual insight. Brands can see the atmosphere in the stadium, hear the crowd, and feel the fan's excitement or frustration in real time. Combined with traditional metrics, in-the-moment video research helps sports brands design experiences that resonate emotionally and build lasting connections.
Why measure fan experience at all?
Measuring fan experience gives sports brands a competitive edge by tailoring their approach to fan needs and expectations. Through consistent measurement, brands can:
- Enhance loyalty by understanding fan preferences and pain points, improving the areas that matter most
- Drive revenue growth because happy fans invest in merchandise, attend more games, and become advocates
- Refine marketing so that campaigns resonate better with real fan sentiment
- Innovate the fan journey by identifying and addressing areas for improvement — match day, digital, or customer service
Ultimately, measuring fan experience puts the fan at the heart of every decision. That's how you end up with experiences that exceed expectations rather than just meeting them.
How does Indeemo help assess fan experience?
Indeemo is designed to capture real-time insight directly from fans, letting sports brands explore every facet of the fan journey with depth and authenticity. Fans can document their experience through diary studies, video journeys, and journey mapping — in the moment, in context, in their own words.
Alongside fan experience research, Indeemo supports the full qualitative workflow:
- Recruit B2C fans in hours from a panel of 3 million+ participants
- Capture in-the-moment videos, photos, screen recordings, and texts in 30+ languages
- Use generative AI for summarisation, translation, thematic analysis, and sentiment analysis to speed up analysis significantly
- Import follow-up interviews from Zoom or Microsoft Teams for deeper probing
- Create subtitled highlight reels to share fan voice with commercial, marketing, or executive audiences
Case study: City Football Group's fan journey mapping
City Football Group, the organisation behind Manchester City FC, uses Indeemo's journey mapping capability to enhance fan experience. Andrew Gilligan, Head of Research and Insights at City Football Group, leads a team that uses Indeemo alongside Miro boards to map the fan journey from start to finish. By capturing fans' experiences before, during, and after each game, the team identifies the pivotal moments and emotional touchpoints that shape the fan experience.
Through in-the-moment video updates, fans share insight on match day experiences — from the ease of ticketing and stadium entry to interactions inside the venue. That lets City Football Group understand fans' perspectives in real time, and make targeted improvements that build loyalty and satisfaction.
Indeemo's generative AI helps the team analyse video feedback quickly, identifying patterns and themes that guide decision-making. The approach has been instrumental in refining the fan journey and ensuring each interaction meets the high standards Manchester City's supporters expect.
Do you need a dedicated research team to run fan experience studies?
No. Whether you're a sports club with an in-house research team, a sports and entertainment agency, or a brand working with sports properties, Indeemo can support you.
Use the platform independently, or partner with our Catalyst team for study design, recruitment, moderation, and analysis. If you have the ambition to understand fan experience more deeply but not the in-house capacity, we can lend a helping hand.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between fan experience and customer experience? They overlap, but fan experience includes emotional elements that pure customer experience doesn't. Fans aren't just buyers — they're part of a community, with identity, loyalty, and tribal attachment woven into the relationship. Good fan experience work recognises both the transactional and emotional layers.
How long should a fan experience research study run? It depends on what you're measuring. A single match day study can capture rich insight in 24–48 hours. A full-season fan journey study might run across several months, with recurring in-the-moment captures around key fixtures or events.
Can video research work in a noisy stadium environment? Yes. Stadium environments are exactly the kind of context where video research shines — the crowd noise, the atmosphere, the emotion are all part of the insight. Indeemo's automated transcription handles background noise well, and the video itself captures the context in a way no questionnaire could.
Is fan experience research only relevant for football and major sports? No. The same principles apply across football, American football, basketball, rugby, motorsport, cricket, tennis, and minor-league sports. Any sport where fans have an emotional relationship with a team or event can benefit from in-the-moment fan experience research.
How many fans do you need to study? Most fan experience studies work with 20–40 participants per match or event, scaling up for multi-location or multi-season programmes. Because video research captures rich multi-format data, sample sizes can be smaller than survey-based fan research.
