Marketization Impact on the Relationships Between Supporters and Football Clubs

Abstract

This article examines the concept of corporate governance, in particular the stakeholder context to analysis the relationship between football clubs in China and their local supporter groups for the purpose of gaining insight of its transitional football industry. This mainly qualitative interview-based study focuses upon the process of football marketization in China, with particular emphasis upon the research question: How has marketization impacted the relationship between supporters and football clubs? Along with an examination of the country’s wider social background, cultural influences to illustrate the impact of football marketization on the development pattern of the Chinese game and the specific characteristics of China’s fan culture under its so called socialist market economy.