The Role of Sports Media in Team Identity Formation and its Relationship with Loyalty in Football Fans

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of sports media in team identity formation and its relationship with loyalty in football fans. Research method was descriptive, correlation, and application regarding the aim. The statistical population included all students and staff of Sistan and Baluchestan University who were studying and working at this university in the academic year 2012-2013. Since the size of the statistical population was more than 10000 subjects, the sample was determined by Morgan table (n=384). The questionnaires of Kim sports media (2008), Trail and James team identity (2001), and Chan Suk loyalty (2010) were used to collect data. The validity of these questionnaires was approved by physical education professors and their reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient as 0.91, 0.83, 0.89 respectively. Data analysis was conducted with descriptive and inferential statistics. In descriptive statistics, frequency, frequency percentage, mean and standard deviation were used and in inferential statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and simple linear regression method (Inter) were applied. Results showed a significant relationship of sport media with team identity and loyalty of their fans (r=0.87 and r=0.71). Simple linear regression results showed that team identity (beta coefficient= 0.53) was a stronger predictor of sports media than loyalty (coefficient=0.37).