The pattern of engagement behaviors of fans in Iranian handball premier league

The Iranian handball premier league needs to understand the engagement pattern of league fans to retain fans, develop league products and develop league-related strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to developing the pattern of engagement behaviors of fans in the Iranian handball premier league. This research was a type of mixed research that was done by modeling method. Based on the existing authoritative literature, the initial conceptual model of the research was developed and then evaluated with data from the Iranian Handball Premier League. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The content validity index of the questionnaire was calculated as 0.872 and the composite reliability for all constructs were higher than the suggested cutoff point of 0.60. 306 questionnaires were included in the final analysis. The partial least squares method was used to evaluate the study's conceptual model. The findings showed that the study's conceptual model is a good fit with the data obtained from the field of Premier Handball League. Fans of the Iranian Handball Premier League showed the greatest tendency towards non transactional extra-role behaviors. Therefore, the managers of the Iranian Handball Premier League can expand their fan base as well as social exchanges between fans by providing engagement opportunities for fans.