SUCCESS FACTORS in ENGAGING CUSTOMERS LOYALTY in SPORTS INDUSTRY How to Gain Brand Loyalty by Engaging the Customers in Sports Industry

SUCCESS FACTORS IN ENGAGING CUSTOMERS LOYALTY IN SPORTS INDUSTRY How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry

Bachelor’s thesis Hämeen Ammattikorkeakoulu, Valkeakoski Campus, International Business Autumn 2020 Arttu Niskanen International Business, Valkeakoski Campus Abstract

Author Arttu Niskanen Year 2020 Subject How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry Supervisors Merja Helin

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää kuinka suurta brändiuskollisuus sekä kannattajien osallistaminen on näissä seuraavissa suomalaisissa urheiluseuroissa: JYP Jyväskylä (jääkiekko) ja Kuopion Palloseura (jalkapallo). Tutkimukseen on päätetty valita kyseiset joukkueet, koska nämä lajit kuuluvat viiden suosituimman urheilulajin joukkoon. Kyseisten joukkueiden välimatka ei ole kovinkaan pitkä. Jyväskylä ja Kuopio kuuluvat kymmenen suurimman kaupungin joukkoon, ja tutkitut seurat ovat olleet viime vuosina lajeissaan varsin menestyviä.

Opinnäytetyössä on menetelmiä kvalitatiivisesta ja kvantitatiivisesta tutkimuksesta. Tutkimus selvittää etenkin seurojen toimintaa sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tutkimuksen on myös tarkoitus selvittää, ketkä voivat olla uusia mahdollisia asiakkaita, tai asiakkaita joiden markkinointia voisi parantaa. Tässä tutkimuksessa käydään läpi millaisia sosiaalisen median päivityksiä seurat julkaisevat. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään myös millaista viestintää he käyvät kannattajien kanssa jotka ovat asiakkaita. Tutkimuksessa katsotaan miten osallistaminen ja brändiuskollisuus toimii seurassa. Nämä aiheet tutkitaan erilaisen datan ja indeksien avulla. Esimerkkinä toimii sosiaalisen median julkaisuiden sitoutuneisuusaste.

Tämän opinnäytetyön tulosten avulla saadaan tieto siitä, mitkä ovat pääideat uusien kannattajien sekä urheilujoukkueiden osallistamisessa. Opinnäytetyössä kerrotaan myös pääasioita brändiuskollisuudesta, ja kuinka se toimii urheilujoukkueissa.

Tulosten mukaan kannattajien sitoutuneisuutta seuraan muun muassa auttaisi tutkimuksen mukaan heidän segmentointi. Kannattajia voi saada sitoutuneemmaksi seuraan, mikäli heidät saa kiinnostumaan myös saman organisaation muista joukkueista. Organisaation muiden joukkueiden markkinoinnin tärkeys on myös muistettava. Sosiaalisessa mediassa joukkueiden olisi hyvä markkinoida pelejä tunteiden kautta, sekä aikaisemmistä peleistä dataa esille.

Opinnäytetyössä saatiin selville, että kannattajien osallistamisessa Kuopion Palloseura toimii paremmin kuin JYP Jyväskylä. JYP Jyväkylän kannattajien osallistaminen toimii parhaiten niissä julkaisuissa, joissa kannattajille on tarjolla palkinto.

Avainsanat brändiuskollisuus, osallistaminen, sosiaalinen media, urheilujoukkue Sivut 64 sivua, joista liitteitä 0 sivua International Business, Valkeakoski Campus Abstract

Author Arttu Niskanen Year 2020 Subject How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry Supervisors Merja Helin

The aim of this study is to identify how well brand loyalty and fan engagement is functioning in Finnish sports teams, which are JYP Jyväskylä (ice hockey) and Kuopion Palloseura (football). The teams decided for this thesis were chosen because both teams have been very successful at their own sport during the past years. One reason for the decision is those teams being popular in sports which are the top 5 of sports with regards to popularity in Finland. Another reason for team decision-making is that the distance between teams is tolerable. Cities of both teams belong, population-wise to the largest cities of Finland.

This thesis holds a mix of qualitative and quantitative studies. Thesis looks at the sports teams decision-making in the social media. This thesis holds a mix of qualitative and quantitative studies. The author points out the values that sports team need to have for building trust or loyalty towards new supporters. Furthermore, the author notes a couple of reasons, that some sports teams in Finland are superior to others, with regards to customer engagement in social media.

This thesis describes what kind of content these sports clubs have released on their social media platforms, how sports clubs interact with supporters on social media, and what are the benefits and drawbacks compared to other teams. This research discovers how loyalty and engagement are conduct in teams. These topics are researched via different data and indexes. The engagement rate is the indexes to research. Engagement rate is shortened as (ER).

According to the results, segmenting the fans would increase the brand loyalty. The supporters brand loyalty can increase, if they become interested in the other teams inside the organization. It is important to market other teams inside the organization. The teams should market the games on social media via the feelings, and also to bring data behind from previous games.

The author found out in the thesis, that Kuopion Palloseura works better in fan engagement than JYP Jyväskylä. JYP Jyväskylä's fan engagement works well with those releases, where supporters can win the prize.

Keywords brand loyalty, fan engagement, social media, sports club Pages 64 pages, which appendices 0 pages Contents 1. INTRODUCTION...... 1 1.1 Finding the subject...... 1 1.2 Research Questions...... 1 1.2.1 Research Objectives...... 1 1.3 Methodology...... 2 1.4 Thesis structure...... 2 2. ENGAGEMENT AND BRAND LOYALTY...... 4 2.1 Introductions of clubs...... 4 2.2 Fan engagement...... 5 2.3 Building brand loyalty...... 7 2.4 Adapting brand loyalty...... 8 2.5 Customer loyalty building...... 9 2.6 Customer loyalty in sports...... 11 3. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING...... 12 3.1 Purpose and benefits of the social media marketing...... 12 3.2 Social media channels and engagement...... 13 3.3 Engagement in Facebook...... 14 3.3.1 Engagement in Twitter...... 14 3.4 Engagement in visible networks...... 15 3.5 Any other channels used...... 15 4. RESEARCH...... 16 4.1 Research method...... 16 4.2 Current situation analysis...... 16 4.3 Problems and challenges for engaging the customers in the sports clubs 53 5. CONCLUSION...... 54 6. LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...... 57 References...... 58 1

1. INTRODUCTION

This bachelor thesis aims to discover how professional sport teams from Finland can improve the supporter's engagement. The author want to solve, how it can be possible to gain new supporters, and find out who the new supporters could be. This thesis makes an effort to find a solution for promoting brand loyalty among the new supporters and sustaining the loyalty with the long-time supporters. According to Sponsor Insight (2020), both ice hockey and football are in the top 5 of sports popularity. This bachelor thesis gives insight into Kuopion Palloseura's and JYP Jyväskylä's social media marketing. The author examines how Kuopion Palloseura's and JYP Jyväskylä's social media marketing differentiates for other teams in the same sports leagues.

1.1 Finding the subject

Finding the subject for this thesis was not an easy task. Before starting the observation, the author tried to find a commissioner from numerous sports teams from the Pirkanmaa area in Finland. Unfortunately, the sports teams in the Pirkanmaa were unable to make a deal with the author due to the COVID-19 situation. A couple of teams were interested in being a commissioner, but during the unpredicted times, the teams could not make an agreement. Due to the sudden termination of the sports season, teams could not provide a research subject to the author. The thesis subject remained similar around sports and as the author decided not to choose teams from the Pirkanmaa region. It was quite easy to find a subject concerning sports, particularly about sports marketing. The reason is that the author is very keen on following sports in general. One reason why the author chose the ice hockey club JYP Jyväskylä for the research was the team's good track record in the 2010s regular seasons. Another reason the author chose JYP Jyväskylä is the author being a supporter of the club and has been watching their matches since 1998. The author decided on Kuopion Palloseura for this thesis because the team currently holds the title of the Finnish top football league called “Veikkausliiga” and partially because both teams are located in closely.

1.2 Research Question

The research question of this thesis is “How to acquire brand loyalty by engaging new supporters to sports teams?” The main aim of the thesis is to find out how to gain new supporters and to understand how the engagement of them can happen on social media. Moreover, what kind of habits are needed to keep the loyalty of existing supporters is researched.

1.2.1 Research Objectives

The objectives of this thesis are: Objective number 1 is: to get to know which social media platforms the sport clubs involved in the research are using. Objective number 2 is: to see how these teams will engage their supporters on social media platforms. Objective number 3 is: what kind of possibilities there is to find new supporters for the sport clubs 2

1.3 Methodology

The method used in the thesis is a mix of qualitative and quantitative research. The method in the research is a comparative study. According to Rautio (2007) and KAMK, comparative studies researches 1) differences of groups and 2) correlations between the groups. The first one means that the objects are similar in some way. If the objects are different, it would be unnecessary to study in that way. There are differences between the objects. The goal is to find out why some objects are different than others. Another goal is to reveal constructions, which are related to the factors of the studied phenomena. When typing a comparative study two issues are important: how does the research object differentiate from each other and what kind of similarities do the research objectives have. The author accumulates the data of the thesis from the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the sport teams. The methods of analyzing the thesis data are the following.

The author examines for likes or comments from the posts of the sports teams' social media accounts and data from the thesis. According to Scribbr (2020), collecting and analyzing the data is important to explain this thesis part. The aim of a theoretical research problem is to find new supporters for the sports teams. Another problem is making engagement in social media and how you can generate brand loyalty for the new supporters of the team. One method according to author is to use statistics from their financial situation and compare them to other teams.

Tools that the author uses to make research is measuring engagement which is called engagement rate. (Osman 2019) There are metrics existing for brand loyalty, as an example customer loyalty index, customer lifetime value, engagement score, and repurchase ratio. (Capillary, n.d.)

According to the author, reasons to choose these methods were that the author wants to see how teams show up in the social media ratings and indexes comparing to the other teams. Social media indexes and ratings relate to engagement rate as an example. It is interesting to see sport clubs gain more supporters who are committed and loyal to the team for a long term.

The author has justified the choices for these methods declaring that these are for understanding more about what the sport teams in Finland are doing well in their social media for engaging customers and what teams could improve in their weekly social media.

1.4 Thesis structure

The topic introduction is the second part of the thesis. This part tells about the research question. The thesis provides a deeper view, of what kind of objectives are going to be in this thesis. The second part of the thesis gives better insight into research methods of thesis writing. Qualitative and quantitative research are the most usual research methods for thesis writing. It states the purposes of the thesis and describes what kind of tools the author uses in the research. This part announces the research objective. In the second part, the author expresses a bit more information in general about teams and what they specialize in for 3 thesis. The teams that the author focuses on are JYP Jyväskylä in ice hockey and Kuopion Palloseura in football.

The literature review is the third part of the thesis. In the third part, the author describes all information about the topic the author has. The literature review covers brand loyalty, digital engagement, and the basics of sports clubs' social media marketing.

The fourth part of the thesis is the results. In the fourth part the author has to illustrate and to present,of what kind of results have been made. In the fourth part, the author looks for how the examined teams differentiate between each other and what kind of problems do the sports clubs have in engaging the new supporters. The author provides answers, on how the sport clubs solve their problems. Compared to similar teams of their sport, how fan engagement differentiates between them.

The fifth part of the discussion allows the possibility to discuss about the author’s findings. In the findings session, according to Oxford Essays (2018), there are three parts, which helps to illustrate findings. These three parts are description, analysis, and synthesis. Prepare the analysis properly, put the focus on the key points, and make sure that an outline is able to be done. Organize findings properly so that it would not be a mess of unstructured text. The data needs to be well-defined because when organizing the data, it depends whether the thesis project is quantitative or qualitative. In a qualitative thesis it is important to document key points of the thesis. For the quantitative thesis it is important, the sections are not too long. Help for long sections is subheadings. In the fifth part, the author explains how findings reach the objectives of the thesis, and how they relate to the research question.

The sixth part of the thesis are the conclusions, which summarizes this thesis. Those conclusions have made based on evidence the author found. 4

2. ENGAGEMENT AND BRAND LOYALTY

2.1 Introductions of clubs

JYP JYVÄSKYLÄ

JYP Jyväskylä is the ice hockey team, which was established in 1923 originally as Jyväskylän Palloilijat. Jyväskylän Palloilijat was a multi-sport club and had departments in football, ice hockey, and Finnish baseball. In 1943 the department of ice hockey was established. In 1977 the football department and the ice hockey department divided. The football department changed the name to JyP-77 and the ice hockey department to JyP Hockey Team. The ice hockey club JyP Hockey Team promoted to the Finnish top league in 1985. JyP Hockey Team's name remained the same until in 1999 team made name change to JYP Jyväskylä. In 2009 and 2012, JYP Jyväskylä won Finnish championships twice. In 2018, JYP Jyväskylä won the Champions Hockey League. JYP Jyväskylä's home arena is called as LähiTapiola Areena with a capacity of 4437 seats. The Chief Executive Officer of JYP Jyväskylä is Risto Korpela and Chairman of Front Office Jukka Seppänen. Head coach of the JYP Jyväskylä is Pekka Tirkkonen and Assistant coach Ari Santanen. (Liiga, n.d.) (Jyväskylä.fi, n.d.)

KUOPION PALLOSEURA

Kuopion Palloseura is a football team established in 1923. Ali Rautakorpi was the first chairman of the club. Kuopion Palloseura was originally a multi-sport club, with the departments in football, bandy, Finnish baseball, and tennis. Kuopion Palloseura is a six-time Finnish champion. Kuopion Palloseura won the title of Finnish championships last year the first time since 1976, and five of the Kuopion Palloseura's titles are from 1950s to 1970s. The club has been runners-up ten times in Finnish championships. Kuopion Palloseura's home stadium is Savon Sanomat Areena, with a capacity of 4778 spectators. Kuopion Palloseura's Chairman of Front Office is Ari Lahti. Their Chief Executive Officer is Jarmo Heiskanen. Arne Erlandsen is the head coach of the Kuopion Palloseura, and the assistant coach is Pasi Tuutti. (Kuopion Palloseura, n.d.) 5

2.2 Fan engagement

According to the Cambridge Dictionary (2020), engagement means as a noun being “involved in” with something. Yoshida et al. (2014) and TheConnectedFan (n.d) defined fan engagement as customer engagement in the sport context. It also means the sports organizations or "franchises" are deeply connected with the supporters, also known as fans. The importance of fan engagement is that players and supporters are more connected. Connecting the players with supporters builds up the brand of sports club. Creating better fan engagement makes a positive resemblance among supporters. There are fans who change favorite teams among the trends, depending on which team is top in the standings. Brand loyal supporters do not change their favorite team. Loyal supporters stick in their team no matter how the team plays. Sports clubs can hire brand ambassadors, who are the spokespersons of a team, and usually give positive feedback about teams.

Making an individual fan experience is an important surface. According to Other Media (2019), fan engagement happens off-site and on-site. Fan engagement is not dependent, whether it is match day or not. The following model is studied by Fowler and Wilson (2016). According to model, on non-match days fans are hosted and connected. In the first example, hosted fans are at the stadium and the club can do something with a family, season ticket holders, or winners of the contest as example. American Major League Soccer team San Jose Earthquakes conducted Lego build with a mascot for their younger fans.

The second example of connecting the supporters during the non-match day comes from a

Finnish ice hockey team called Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa). The ice hockey team held a jersey designing contest for the team, and supporters voted the best. Saimaan Pallo wore a jersey of the winner in the game versus JYP Jyväskylä on 9th March 2019 (SaiPa 2019).

According to Other Media (2019), the third aspect is to bring fans closer to the live action when fans are at home, on the bus, or at the workplace. The third aspect of the fan engagement takes place off-site, not at the stadium. An example of fan engagement is a fan 6 app of a Finnish ice hockey league, Liiga. The app has a possibility to watch live scores of the matches, standings, schedules, player and team statistics, to watch the news, highlights of the games, and also post-match media conferences. (Liiga, 2019)

According to Other Media (2019), the fourth example of fan engagement is enhancing a live experience. It means to improve in-game enjoyment, as an example making an improvement to the sound systems and screens. Supporters could easily watch the replays during the game. National Football League team Atlanta Falcons made an improvement possible for everybody, no matter where is the ticket. One example to enhance for in-game experience is to bring high-speed Wi-Fi access at the stadium, like football team Manchester City in English Premier League did. Supporters of the sports club discuss a lot of their team and follow the live scores of the other matches during the game. If Wi-Fi speed is slow when thousand of persons uses it, the fan experience decreases. (Manchester City Football Club, 2013)

According to Mashable.com (2011), National Hockey League team Tampa Bay Lightning enhanced their live experience when they attached RFID microchips to fan replica jerseys of the season ticket holders. Using the RFID chips under the jersey sleeve provides possibilities to have a 25% discount. According to Lightning's Executive Vice President of Service and Operations Brad Lott, the number of season ticket holders rose from 6,000 to 11,000 when the idea launched. As Other Media (n.d.) states, teams should engage fans to listen them. Also, to maximizing the impact that happens on social media experiences should be shared. Another important activity is to thank loyal supporters and reward them.

According to Durga (2018), brand loyalty is buying-favoring one particular brand over the other. It is likely to become brand loyal if there is a possibility to have a discount from a loyalty program. There is a lot of marketing tactics, which can upgrade brand loyalty. Tactics are as an example to create solid customer service, reward programs, build community, and story for the brand. Supporters want to be part of a story the team is building. If the customer service is substandard, it is unlikely that a supporter buys that product again. The sports teams do a lot of customer service on social media, where the most of the customer service requests are made. It is important to market a product properly. To the sports teams, the game success is important.

Before this year, a Finnish national football team has not managed to qualify throughout the 32 major qualifications for European or World Championship. However, Finland has had a loyal supporter group called “SMJK”, which stands for “The supporters of Finnish national teams” (Pohjoiskaarre, n.d). Finland was second last in their FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification group and finished as fourth of the six teams in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification group. Finnish FA made concept “Dream of Generations” to UEFA Nations League 2019, which tries to market Finnish national teams and Finnish football in general. (Palloliitto, n.d.) (Transfermarkt, n.d.)

The previous results did not create big expectations before the UEFA Nations League, which started in September 2018. From the game versus Faroe Island in September 2015, until the start before UEFA Nations League 2018, Finland had won only 8 of the 30 games. Finland's previous coaches Mixu Paatelainen and Hans Backe sacked due to the bad results. Bad results made the spectator rates drop. Finland's average spectator rate of home games in the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifiers was 27 531. The occupancy rate of the home games was 69,2 7 percentages. Finland's home games average spectator rate in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification was 18 083, even though games were held mainly at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium with capacity of 39 784. Finland's home games occupancy rate was ca. 45,5 percentages. (Transfermarkt, n.d.)

Finland's home games in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifications moved from Helsinki because of the renovation of the Olympic Stadium. The temporary main stadium was Tampere Stadium, with a capacity of 16,800 spectators. During the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifications, the spectator average of Finland's home games in Tampere was 13 375. A total occupancy rate in FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifications was 81,7 percentages. Finland's home games spectator average in Tampere was 10 164. A spectator average for Finland's games was 8319 spectators. That may be the reason behind a lack of attendance, even though Finland won the group 2 in Division C. (Transfermarkt, n.d.)

In UEFA Euro 2020 qualifications, Tampere Stadium was the main stadium of Finland for the last time. The first-class results of the Finnish national team continued. Finland qualified for the first time to the major competition in male football, and the spectator rates rose. The average of the Finnish home games in Tampere in this qualification was 16 186. The occupancy rate was 96,3 percentage of the stadium's capacity in three matches. The total occupancy rate, if we count in two matches in Veritas Arena in Turku and Telia 5G Arena in Helsinki, is 93,7 percentage. The spectator average in all Finland's home games was In 9 860 spectators. Next time Finland will play for their home crowd in the renovated Olympic Stadium, but the question is can they keep their low-level fans. Are there even possibilities to grow up the occupancy rate in a larger stadium? At least they have done well for fan engagement, especially the players themselves, who are pretty active on social media. (Transfermarkt, n.d.)

As an example a national team's striker Rasmus Karjalainen agreed earlier for coming to the training session with a junior team in Oulu, his birth town. Karjalainen R. (2019)

Finland Spectators Tot.Occupancy rate Home Games Average WC 2014 27531 69,2 Euro 2016 18083 45,5 WC 2018 13375 81,7 Nations 8319 60 League 2019 Euro 2020 9860 93,7

2.3 Building brand loyalty

When building brand loyalty, it is important to improve connection between the fans and sports clubs. According to Durga (2018), brand loyalty means favoring one particular brand over the others. The new customer become more likely loyal to the brand if there is a possibility to get a discount from the loyalty program. There are a lot of marketing tactics, which can use for upgrading brand loyalty. These tactics are for example to make an 8 exceptional customer service, reward programs, building the community for the supporters, and story to the brand.

When the customer service is poor, it is unlikely that the supporter buys the product again or comes to the match. On the other hand, if the club provides to the customers an memorable experience they come back eagerly.

In the long term, high-quality brand loyalty leads to a big community and improves for business growth. Pleased customers also make recommendations for their friends. It leads to larger domino effect. With a large community of supporters, it is possible for customers to join as brand advocates. When supporters are more known than others, the club may release for other fans some information, what brand advocates can share on social media platforms.

According to CrazyEgg (2018), building brand loyalty is a long term issue. The major fact is that sports fans want to come back to every game continuously. It is necessary to focus on the supporters' needs. The student supporters come to the match with various reasons. There are long-time supporters, who have supported the club since the children, and others may want to use pastime in that way. It is important, that logo stands out from other teams. Having the logo that stands out is one way to receive new fans, but that could provoke long- term supporters. Keeping up traditions is important at sports. Companies do much customer service on social media, and a big part of the customer service requests is done there, so it should be important to make it familiar in that way. Supporters have to be clear about their fan experience. Supporters are able to complain if it is against their values.

2.4 Adapting brand loyalty

The author states that for supporters is easier to adapt the brand if the team plays marvelously, referring to the standings. It is easier to adapt the brand when the team plays effectively and win the games. But hard times come if the team has a big losing streak, seats are emptier, and occupancy rate decreases. New potential supporters might go away for the team if they are disloyal and not committed.

According to Gomeeki (2019), there are lots of sports fans who have decided their favorite team after watching the games of the local team. The family history may relate to newer fans choosing the sports team. In the USA, 40% population thinks that location is the main reason supporting the team. Traditionality provides deeper insight for the club via telling stories of the club's history. According to Lewis (2001), these people are called civic supporters, and if you have decided to support a specific team, it is called symbolic support.

In this thesis, one of the thesis objectives are: “What kind of possibilities there is to have unknown new customers?”. In business-wise, new possible customers are called for prospects. The company is needed to convince that this is his or her team to follow. The possible customers or also called for prospects are people, who differentiate in the demographic or psychographic factors.

Of course, this differentiates comparing to sport, but also to country, city, gender, age, wealth, et cetera. According to Armstrong et al. (2012 p. 190), these are called for the 9 demographic factor, how supporters are segmented. The supporters are possible to segment based on the psychographic factors, which are value, attitude, personal trait, interests, and lifestyle. (Armstrong et al. 2012 p. 191).

The supporters differentiate based on how eager they attend to the matches. The fans who are more “passionate” attend for every match, but then there are also some “casual” fans. These supporters are less eager to attend games. The “casual” supporters pay very likely sports TV-channel to see matches. (Mahony et al. 2000). According to Clowes & Tapp (1999) and Mahony et al. (2000), fans who do not attend for match regularly can be as loyal to the team as "passionate" fans, who attend for every match and have bought the season ticket. According to studies, some supporters show their fandom by talking and reading the news about the team.

According to Hunt et al. (1999) and Gladden & Funk (2002), some fans may not show their emotions, but these fans show the loyalty to the team by wearing the team colors. Holt (1995) and Gladden & Funk (2002), states that attending to matches is for some fans just getting away from daily routines. Then, some may consider themselves as very devoted fans. McDonald & Milne (1997), describes that marketing for people is hard because it needs to remember that everyone has their personal reasons for supporting the club. Supporters show loyalty in many ways, as told previously. All of them are equally crucial to team, although they may not generate as much equity.

According to Clarke (1978) and Nash (2000), the most high-attendee supporters are called for example tribal, irrational, fanatics, or passionate partisans. The low-attendee supporters are called as rationals, social, carefree-casuals, or theatergoers. The analysis from Stewart et al. (2003) points out three issues for sports marketers. There are irrational and rational components. Some of the supporters are irrational and go to the match for having a good time or meeting the friend. On the other side, there are rational supporters who talk lots about tactics, transfers, and team-related issues. These supporters want to buy also team merchandise.

2.5 Customer loyalty building

According to CrazyEgg (2012), Customer Lifetime Value, shortened as (CLV), it measures the average sum that sports fans spend for that company in their lifetime. Customer-lifetime value counts that you state amount how much the customer uses per year and multiply by how many years the customer uses the product. Subtract the amount that is used for the promotion. Customer Lifetime Value is counted after that.

Durga (2018 p. 2) declares that to the sports club creating a new loyal customer is much harder than keeping an old customer. According to Armstrong et al. (2012 p.25), not even all loyal customers are profitable. The customers are classified to four different groups, based on projected loyalty and potential profitability. According to profitability, customers are classified as high and low profitability groups. They are classified as short-term and long- term customers based on loyalty. The short-time and low profitability customer groups are called for strangers. Their needs' amount, and what the company is possible to offer, their amount is small. The “strangers” have the lowest profit potential for the company. Short- 10 time customers with high profitability are called for butterflies. For their needs and what sports clubs can offer, it is a lot. Their profit potential is high, but “butterflies” unfortunately do not keep loyal to the team. The long-term supporters of the club, whose profit potential is low money-wise, are called for barnacles. Their profit potential is low, but they can find what the sports club offers to them and what their needs are in a long time. It is not much, although “barnacles” are loyal to the team. The highest profit potential and most loyal customer group are True Friends. Companies are eager to delight this special group. It has to say that all customers are equally important, but they need a different approach for relationship strategy. 11

2.6 Customer loyalty in sports

The author describes how sports clubs gain customer loyalty in sports following chapters. According to Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50), customer loyalty has four different stages. These stages are cognitive, affective, behavioral, and conative. All of the stages have benefits and drawbacks. According to Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50), on a cognitive level of loyalty is usually new fans, and they are called “first-timers”. Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50) states that the positive sides of a cognitive stage are the perception of qualities and superior features. The drawback at this stage is that fans are less loyal to the team.

Good features in the affective stage are the attitude towards the brand, which create fondness. Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50) states that loyalty in the level of emotion and passion plays a large role in the affective stage. Another positive side of the behavioral stage is that willing for acting is high. The drawback is that it can lead to a weaker performance. Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50) describes that loyalty in the affective stage is mostly satisfaction played.

The benefits of the conative stage are that there are plans for repurchasing or another commitment. Their loyalty could increase via discounting for prices. Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2017 p.50) suggests that as drawbacks of this stage were that there might be buying plans, but they do not lead to action for purchase. Satisfaction and emotion play big roles in this stage. Earning trust is also important, which leads to long-time loyalty.

The last stage is active loyalty. Active loyalty is according to Taghipourian & Bakhsh (2015 p.50), the most strongest loyalty towards the brand, which last a long time and create life- lasting relationships.

Good customer loyalty can be made according to Armstrong et al. (2012 p. 8-10) with good customer value and satisfied customers. A company increases profits when supporters buy the tickets, fan merchandise, and use the restaurant services.

Armstrong et al. (2012 p. 23) declares, that first step for building good customer relationship in marketing and that it would create value for all supporters of the team. According to study, the last step is creating value as a return, which is as an example sales in the future or creating more profitability for the company. Another example of great return in a long time is that it could create more customer value for loyal supporters and creating a return to the team. 12

3. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

According to Myynnin & Markkinoinnin Ammattilaiset (n.d.), the main idea of social media marketing is making more contacts. For sports clubs, it is important to use social media for proper marketing purposes and at the right time. For example, the social media platforms where the teams sell fan merchandise or tickets to the match need to differentiate from their competitors. It can be joke, funny picture, or video, which makes the difference. To gain exposure is important in advance to receive profit. When you know where supporters and sponsorship networks are, the team could engage them into the other platforms. It is important for the club to connect with the new networks, as an example on LinkedIn. For supporters, it is nice to attach stories on Facebook and to answer their opinions on Twitter. Also, if supporters are young, the team can communicate on Instagram or TikTok. It is important when the post was released and when it reaches the maximum potential of attention. To release after midnight is a good idea if the Finnish team does not want to gain exposure.

Hootsuite's Newberry and LaPage (2019) states, that without goals and objectives, there will not be a financial return. Measuring the objectives are important. It is important to learn a lot from supporters, of what kind of people they or what is their likes and dislikes. It is important to segment supporters. Most of them are Android users, and the most of the social media users are from 18 to 35 years old. According to Newberry and LaPage (2019), it is good to know where you are better or worse than competitors. Clubs could do a social media audit. In social media audit that club can see where the company is work well and where it is not. Who are the fans, and what kind of fans you right now engage. The club can also look at what kind of tactics and ideas have worked well with the competitors or social media brands and try to find some help. Make adaption, which might work in the club's social media strategy.

3.1 Purpose and benefits of the social media marketing

According to Digital Doughnut's Nelson (2018), one of the biggest possibilities in social media marketing is reaching a large mass. There are other purposes why social media marketing is important for a sports club. The ad strategy sports clubs is possible to decrease, and have a better return for the investments of the team. Brand loyalty is important that the supporter keeps in connection with the platform. It is important that a satisfied customer base exists, giving opinions about the product. Marketing on social media and having a strategy applying it increases the awareness and recognition of the team brand. When increasing social media marketing, it needs to increase engagement. There is more customer communication. That has to be two-sided otherwise will not work.

For example, one and half a week-long campaign for 15 second long to local TV-spots in Finland can cost from 2700 euros to 25 000 euros depending on the county where TV-spot is published. (MTVuutiset.fi, 2016) It drives quicker and more direct communication between the company and customers. Social media professionals can help the company for building an approachable and desirable brand. The more companies will give a good look at 13 communication and advertising itself more likely customers are to continue their interest for customer relationship. It creates a profitable customer satisfaction rate.

3.2 Social media channels and engagement

The author researches for other social media platforms, not including the Facebook and Twitter. According to Tilastokeskus (2017), the most popular social media platform in Finland was WhatsApp. Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger were the most popular social media platforms in Finland. Generally, Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn are not social media platforms for everyone. The youth are keener to use Snapchat and Instagram. The adults use more frequently social media platforms like the Facebook or WhatsApp. According to a study, 13 % of interviewees use social media platforms for admiring something or someone. The most frequent activity that Finns do on social media is reading the news and watching videos on YouTube.

Fan engagement example from JYP Jyväskylä's social media platform is from their YouTube channel. The team has live streamed the old playoff games on YouTube. JYP Jyväskylä uses regurarly on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter of social media platforms. JYP Jyväskylä's official YouTube account name is “JYPLIIGAOFFICIAL”, with 2760 followers. The amount of their clicks to videos is 804 844. On Twitter JYP Jyväskylä has 9 349 followers. The video content JYP Jyväskylä releases is about new recruitments, post-match press conferences, player -or staff interviews, alumni interviews, sponsorship awareness, player awareness via different themes (Christmas, Independence Day, Father's Day, distance learning et cetera). (JYP Jyväskylä, Twitter, 2020) (JYP Jyväskylä, YouTube, 2020)

Fan engagement example from Kuopion Palloseura's social media platform is from their YouTube channel. Their YouTube account is called “KuPS1923”, where they have 2130 followers. In that account, the team posts highlight videos, post-match press conferences, pre-game interviews, and announcements of player or sponsorship deals. Team have another YouTube account called “KuPS1923 LIVE”, where they live stream women's and second team's home games. On Twitter, Kuopion Palloseura posts new recruitments, interviews, sponsorship deals, pre-match marketing, and in-game hype. Kuopion Palloseura's Twitter account has 8107 followers. (KuPS, Twitter, 2020) (KuPS, YouTube, 2020)

One way how Kuopion Palloseura makes fan engagement is for example to arrange a podcast. It focuses on Kuopion Palloseura and the Finnish football league. Kuopion Palloseura has own podcast called Mölymäki in Supla podcast service. The guests are players, coaches, and other members of the team. Other Finnish football clubs also have own podcast. FC Honka's podcast name is Honcast, FC Haka's podcast is called Hacast. Nappulakengät is Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi's podcast. Finnish ice hockey teams also have own podcasts. SaiPa's podcast is called Kaukaan Pääty. Petopodi is Oulun Kärpät's podcast name is Petopodi, and Hunajacast is Turun Palloseura's podcast. (Supla, 2020) 14

3.3 Engagement in Facebook

According to Hootsuite's Newberry (2018), sports clubs have to be short and clear in the message because people do not use a lot of time to watch social media at the time. The Facebook's data shows that people use their mobile device only 1.7 seconds to look at one post. It is important to create mobile-friendly content, because almost 90 percentage uses the Facebook on their mobile phones. People want social media content to be something, which makes them laugh and is relatable. When a sports club tries to engage people, the club has to know the audiences wants and needs. The club has a higher engagement rate if they post a simple photo with text related to the content. It is important to encourage to discuss on social media. It creates more fan engagement between supporters and club if they can have questions and answers -session. The club learns when page followers are online on Facebook if they use Page Insight. “Verified” badge give to customers a safe feeling that the Facebook site is real. Facebook and Instagram -stories appear in front of the Feed. It is more likely for people to get the extra information about the product, if they see information in “story” in the Feed. According to the survey made by Ipsos for Facebook, 62 percentage want to know more about the product.

The fan engagement on the JYP Jyväskylä's Facebook account has question concerning the players' dream line-up, and fans were engaged to write their opinion. JYP Jyväskylä's players donated all of their funds from the fines to buy season tickets from other sports clubs in Jyväskylä. The season tickets they donate to a support foundation of Central Finland's main hospital. JYP Jyväskylä's Facebook account has 47 752 followers. (JYP, Facebook, 2020) The foundation was invented to improve the satisfaction and healing of the patients. (KSSHP, 2020)

Kuopion Palloseura's fan engagement on Facebook is quite similar to Twitter or YouTube. The club posts as an example new recruitments, interviews, sponsorship deals, pre-match marketing, and in-game hype. Kuopion Palloseura's Facebook account has 17 650 followers. (KuPS, Facebook, 2020)

3.3.1 Engagement in Twitter

Twitter is a microblog and social media platform. On Twitter, users interact via sending messages, which are usually known as tweets. Users can also like and retweet for sharing them. Users can post similar messages by using the "#" -sign in front, which is also known as the hashtag. After the hashtag -sign, it is important to invent the topic. As an example to the top-level Finnish football league, that would be #veikkausliiga. Twitter was found in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone. The reason behind creating Twitter was using it as a web application for Ruby computer programming language. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020)

Fan engagement on Twitter is promoting the tweets of the team's account and receiving more likes and retweets. It is important to have a suitable person and at the right time to whom you promote team, as an example if this sports club's target group are Finns. Tweeting at midnight does not likely create a lot of fan engagement, but if the target group are North Americans, then the timing is excellent. Marketing teams of sports clubs need to create as an 15 example on Twitter the fan engagement campaigns, where the teams try promoting their content for a target group. According to Herzog (n.d.), team's hashtag needs to be easy to remember because of better engagement. It has to take a look, of what kind of hashtags are under your topic and choose the best. Attach it with competition, which includes prize, then that hashtag is used more frequently. Be clear in communication. It is not good to use too many hashtags on Twitter, just a few.

As an example, fan engagement of the JYP Jyväskylä also re-tweets team-related issues, like the “Liiga” Twitter account. Another example is when JYP Jyväskylä did show an old 2009 final match on YouTube channel and asked in the comment section “Where were you during the game, where did you watch the match back then?”. (JYP, Twitter, 2020) (JYP, YouTube, 2020) Kuopion Palloseura's example from Twitter engagement is where fans can ask questions from the players in Kuopion Palloseura's podcast called Mölymäki. (KuPS, Twitter, 2020)

3.4 Engagement in visible networks

The sports clubs in this thesis can increase fan engagement via visible networks. For example, Kuopion Palloseura did own reality TV-show in 2020 called “Playoff – Haluatko Jalkapallotähdeksi”. The main idea of the reality program was a possibility to sign a professional contract with Kuopion Palloseura via tests, try outs, and practices. This program was broadcasted on Finnish TV -channel Nelonen from the 17th of February to 6th April in 2020. (Veikkausliiga, 2020)

JYP Jyväskylä Ltd. expanded in April 2020 their business to the new e-sports department. The new e-sports department focuses on one game, which is EA Sports' NHL- game series. JYP Jyväskylä's e-sports team's name was previously Symphony. The team plays on a top-level of European “ECL Elite” -league. JYP Jyväskylä plays EASHL-game mode. (JYP, 2020)

“It gives a possibility to create the synergy with new partners in different markets and with existing fans, it is a new and modern way to have events under the JYP Jyväskylä-brand”, according to JYP Jyväskylä's Account and Development Manager Taneli Maasalo. E-sports is a possible way to engage as a new ice hockey supporter differently. It is special to them engage fans who have not followed ice hockey previously. (JYP, 2020)

3.5 Any other channels used

The thesis observes what other engagement channels do these sports clubs use. An example of a different kind of engagement from JYP Jyväskylä is social responsibility, what the team has done previously. For example, according to JYP Jyväskylä's Facebook -account (2020), players visit in local schools and the practices of local junior hockey teams. JYP Jyväskylä visit sometimes in local nursing homes. (Keskisuomalainen, 2011). Also, the JYP Jyväskylä have rented one of their unnecessary delivery vans of the equipments to K-Market grocery store in Jyväskylä that they can deliver food to COVID-19 risk groups. According to newspaper Keskisuomalainen (2020) also the players have helped in the current COVID-19 situation to deliver some groceries for elders. 16

4. RESEARCH

4.1 Research method

The research method of the thesis is to study how sports clubs differentiate from the others in their leagues. For example, how they differentiate financially. The comparable financial statistics are turnover in thousands, turnover change percentage, EBITDA percentage, EBIT percentage, net profits versus losses per year, and equity ratio. The author also studies via engagement rate per week or post, how properly the supporters are connected to different social media platforms of the club. When the comments, likes, and retweets on social media posts have been summarized, it is possible to know the engagement rate.

4.2 Current situation analysis

In the JYP Jyväskylä's current situation analysis, it is compared with two teams who play in the Finnish professional ice hockey league, Liiga. These examples are HPK Hämeenlinna and Ässät Pori. This part takes a look at JYP Jyväskylä's key figures summary. In the current situation analysis, the author looks for yearly key figures, turnover in millions, profits versus losses, and equity ratio. The thesis looks at JYP Jyväskylä's financial situation and compares it with Ässät Pori and HPK Hämeenlinna. The author chose teams for this thesis because their turnovers are quite similar. Similarly, the author looks for football team Kuopion Palloseura's financial key figures and compares it with two Finnish "Veikkausliiga" -teams. These teams are FC Inter Turku and HJK Helsinki. 17

JYP Jyväskylä JYP Jyväskylä's key figures summary

Key figures 2017 2018 2019 2020 summary

Turnover (thousand 7200 8201 7938 7536 €) Business profit/loss -339 -407 -644 -29 (thousand €) Turnover change % -5,10% EBITDA % -3,90% 0,60% EBIT % -8.1% -0,40% Net profit for the -450 -466 -2677 -89 year (thousand €) Equity ratio 33,00% 25,00% -32,00% -33,00% Personnel 55 55 55

The table states that JYP Jyväskylä's peak year in their turnover was in 2018. Reason for the peak year can be cutting the costs when the turnover was worse. JYP Jyväskylä's worst year in turnover was in 2017. The reason can be as example team's unexperienced workers, according to the author. JYP Jyväskylä made financial loss from 2017 to 2020. In 2019 the club had mostly business losses. JYP Jyväskylä's equity ratio has decreased every year from 2017 to 2020. In 2017, JYP Jyväskylä had the best equity ratio, 33,00%, and in 2020 they had the worst losses, -33,00 %. According to the table, JYP Jyväskylä can not survive without financial assistance outside the business. 18

HPK Hämeenlinna HPK Hämeenlinna's key figures summary

Key figures 2017 2018 2019 2020 summary

Business profit / 97 -158 459 325 loss (thousand €)

Turnover 5679 5369 6994 6611 (thousand €) Turnover change 7,60% -5,50% 30,30% -5,50% % EBITDA % 2,30% -2,30% 6,90% 5,60% EBIT % 1,90% -2,90% 6,60% 4,90% Net profit for the 67 -169 383 251 year (thousand €) Equity ratio 61,00% 55,00% 48,00% 77,00% Personnel 53 51 52 65 19

The table states that HPK Hämeenlinna's peak year in turnover was in 2019. Reason behind that could be that they won the Finnish ice hockey title during the 2018-2019 season. The worst year in turnover of HPK Hämeenlinna was in 2018. According to the author reason behind bad turnover could be team finishing out of the playoffs. HPK Hämeenlinna had the most business profits in 2019, and the biggest reason for that could be winning the title. In 2018, HPK Hämeenlinna had the most business losses. An equity ratio of HPK Hämeenlinna has been on the plus side ca. 50 to 75 percentages from 2017 to 2020. It equals that HPK Hämeenlinna can survive without financial aid.

Ässät Pori Ässät Pori's key figures summary

2017 2018 2019 2020 Turnover 6408 6248 5884 6494 (thousand €) Business 406 -450 139 136 profit/loss Turnover change 12,30% -2,5 -5,8 10,40% % EBITDA % 7,40% -6,20% 3,30% 2,70% EBIT % 6,30% -7,20% 2,30% 2,10% Net profit for the 407 -451 126 136 year (thousand €) Equity ratio 63,00% 44,00% 49,00% 37,00% Personnel 108 58 48 48

The table states, that Ässät Pori's highest turnover was in 2020. According to author the reason behind could be that fans wanted to see team, which played better than last season. The worst year in turnover was in 2019, and according to the author the reason behind bad turnover could be that team finished out of playoffs. Ässät Pori had the most business losses in 2018. After 2018, Ässät Pori looked at more wisely how to spend the money. Ässät Pori's equity ratio has been on the plus side ca. 30-60 percentages, from 2017 to 2020. It means that the team can survive on their own. 20

Ice hockey teams' financial competition

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover 2017 2018 2019 2020 JYP 7200 8201 7938 7536 HPK 5679 5369 6994 6611 Ässät 6408 6248 5884 6494

The table looks at how JYP Jyväskylä matches financially compared to the Ässät Pori and HPK Hämeenlinna. The table states that Ässät Pori was the only team, which increased their turnover in 2020. This year was Ässät Pori's best year in turnover from 2017 to 2020. HPK Hämeelinna's turnover has decreased in 2020, but it is better from 2017 or 2018. JYP Jyväskylä's turnover is the best of all three teams, but it has decreased the most. Turnover stand for how properly the product or service of the company has sold during the year, but it do not describe whether the company make profits or losses.

Business Business Business Business profit/loss profit/los profit/loss profit/loss 2020 s 2017 2018 2019

JYP -339 -407 -644 -29 HPK 97 -158 459 325 Ässät 406 -450 139 136

Business profit is what the company counts from the income, expenses, and depreciations. When the company's business profit is negative. it means to a business loss. According to the table, JYP Jyväskylä has made business losses from 2017 to 2020. Ässät Pori and HPK Hämeenlinna have made both, business profits and losses during the recent years. As an example, HPK Hämeenlinna has made from 2016 to 2018 business losses three years in a row. Ässät Pori made business profits in 2019 and 2020. Ässät Pori's has made business losses worth of 450 000 € in 2018. During the last two years, the business profits of Ässät Pori have been stable. Their profit difference from 2019 to 2020 is only 3000 euros. 21

Equity Equity Equity Equity ratio ratio ratio ratio 2020 2017 2018 2019

JYP 33,00% 25,00% -32,00% -33,00% HPK 61,00% 55,00% 48,00% 77,00% Ässät 63,00% 44,00% 49,00% 37,00%

A setback for JYP Jyväskylä is that their equity ratio has been on the minus side during the last two years. Ässät Pori's and HPK Hämeenlinna's equity ratio has been on the plus side during the last five years. JYP Jyväskylä is financially unstable in the long run and needs the help of funders. This is what equity ratio means for.

EBITDA % EBITDA % EBITDA % EBITDA % 2017 2018 2019 2020

JYP -3,90% 0,60% HPK 2,30% -2,30% 6,90% 5,60% Ässät 7,40% -6,20% 3,30% 2,70% 22

This table states that JYP Jyväskylä has improved their EBITDA percentage from 2019 to 2020 with margin of 4,5%. However, it is barely on the plus side. Ässät Pori's EBITDA percentage decreased from 2017 to 2020 and compared to JYP Jyväskylä, is still superior to them. There has been ups and downs the recent years in HPK Hämeenlinna's EBITDA percentage. It is still better than JYP Jyväskylä's EBITDA percentage. In 2020, the best EBITDA percentage has HPK Hämeenlinna. According to Investopedia (2020), EBITDA percentage stands for Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciations, and Amortization. This margin states how good is the company's operating profitability. According to the table above, JYP Jyväskylä's operating profitability has been bad, but it has improved. It equals that company is wealthier than before. Ässät Pori's and HPK Hämeenlinna's operating profitability has decreased, which equals for less wealthier company.

EBIT % EBIT % EBIT % EBIT % 2017 2018 2019 2020 JYP -8.1% -0,40% HPK 1,90% -2,90% 6,60% 4,90% Ässät 6,30% -7,20% 2,30% 2,10%

The EBIT percentage stands for how many percentages of the turnover is profitable. According to the table, JYP Jyväskylä has improved their EBIT percentage for 7,5 percentages. Comparing JYP Jyväskylä's EBIT percentage from two previous years to Ässät Pori's and HPK Hämeenlinna's, JYP Jyväkylä's has the worst. For example, JYP Jyväskylä's EBIT percentage in 2020 is -0,4 %, when Ässät Pori has 2,1 %. HPK Hämeenlinna's, EBIT percentage in 2020 is 4,9 %. According to the table, HPK Hämeenlinna's and Ässät Pori's EBIT percentage has decreased during the last two years. (JYP, Asiakastieto, 2020) (HPK, Asiakastieto, 2020) (Ässät, Asiakastieto, 2020)

23

Kuopion Palloseura

Kuopion Palloseura's summary of key figures

2016 2017 2018 2019 Turnover 880 1074 1894 2243 (thousand €) Business -767 -981 -498 -1132 profit / loss Turnover -1,70% 22,00% 76,40% 18,40% change % EBITDA % -78,00% -83,90% -21.3% -47.1% EBIT % -81,00% -87,10% -21.8% -48.8% Net profit for -798 -998 -517 -1169 the year (thousand €) Equity ratio -26,00% -397,00% -269,00% -548,00% Personnel 30 34 39 55

According to the Kuopion Palloseura's key figures, their turnover has increased from 2016 to 2019. The author states, it means that Kuopion Palloseura's matches raise interest among the people. Turnover change percentage has increased from 2016 to 2018, but in 2019 it decreased. Kuopion Palloseura's business losses has been large and the equity ratio has decreased 500 % during the four years. It states about the Kuopion Palloseura's unstable condition. The club needs external financing being as competive football club in Finland. 24

FC Inter Turku

FC Inter Turku's summary of key figures

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Turnover 595 761 616 579 1030 (thousand €) Business -1758 -2355 -1794 -1267 profit / loss Turnover 27,70% -19,10% -6,00% -77,90% change % EBITDA % -206,00% -341,20% -241,30% -117,00% EBIT % -220,90% -359,50% -258,90% -117,60% Net profit for -595 553 -8 14 the year (thousand €) Equity ratio -3,00% -88,00% -6,00% -5,00% -4,00% Personnel 23 17 23 32

The table states that in 2016 FC Inter Turku had a lot of problems when their equity ratio decreased. It has been normally close to zero. FC Inter Turku has had a lot of business losses. The table states that FC Inter Turku's turnover has increased, which equals that supporters have watched the matches and the club sells more fan merchandise than before, the author states. 25

HJK Helsinki

HJK Helsinki's summary of key figures

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Turnover 5740 5025 4842 4606 4160 (thousand €) Business 432 57 109 178 -334 profit / loss Turnover -34,20% -12,50% -3,60% -4,90% -9,70% change % EBITDA % 5,10% 11,50% 5,80% -6,30% EBIT % 7,50% 1,10% 2,20% 3,80% -7,90% Net profit for 257 253 159 58 the year (thousand €) Equity ratio 81,00% 76,00% 87,00% 75,00% 89,00% Personnel 41 42 41 43 43

This table states that HJK Helsinki's EBIT % has decreased a lot on the plus side to the minus side because their turnover and business profit has decreased from 2015 to 2020. It could mean that people are not that interested come to the matches. One reason can be the ticket price. When business profits have decreased, it means that the team can not buy that expensive players. 26

Football teams financial situation competition

Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover Turnover 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 KuPs 880 1074 1894 2243 FC Inter 595 761 616 579 1030 HJK 5740 5025 4842 4606 4160

This thesis looks into Kuopion Palloseura's latest financial situation and compares it to FC Inter Turku's and HJK Helsinki's financial situation. The reason for choosing those teams is because their situation in standings is quite similar. Kuopion Palloseura's turnover is greater than FC Inter Turku's but smaller than HJK Helsinki's. When HJK Helsinki's turnover from 2015 decreases every year, Kuopion Palloseura's and FC Inter Turku's turnover slightly increases.

Profit/loss Profit/loss Profit/loss Profit/loss Profit/loss 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 KuPs -767 -981 -498 -1132 FC Inter -1758 -2355 -1794 -1267 HJK 432 57 109 178 -334

The table states that since 2016, Kuopion Palloseura has made hundred-thousands losses. In 2019, was Kuopion Palloseura's biggest loss worth of €1 132 000. In 2018, were the smallest loss worth of €498 000. In 2018, was their smallest loss worth of €498 000. From 2015 to 2018, FC Inter Turku has made bigger losses than Kuopion Palloseura. In 2016 were FC Inter Turku's biggest losses worth of €2 355 000. HJK Helsinki is the only profitable football team in the thesis. The only year, when HJK Helsinki has made losses, worth of €334 000 was 2019. In 2015 HJK Helsinki made the most profit, worth of €431 542. HJK Helsinki has made profit from 2015 to 2018. The table states that Kuopion Palloseura has not made profit like HJK Helsinki, but their losses has not been that heavy as FC Inter Turku's. 27

Equity Equity ratio Equity Equity ratio Equity ratio ratio 2016 ratio 2018 2019 2015 2017 KuPs -26,00% -397,00% -269,00% -548,00% FC Inter -3,00% -88,00% -6,00% -5,00% -4,00% HJK 81,00% 76,00% 87,00% 75,00% 89,00%

According to the table, Kuopion Palloseura's equity ratio is very low on -548 %. Kuopion Palloseura's equity ratio from 2016 to 2020 has usually been more than -100 %. An exception was in 2016 when an equity ratio was -26 %. FC Inter Turku's equity ratio has usually been from -2 to -6 %. Their only exception was in 2016 when it was -88 %. The HJK Helsinki's equity ratio from 2015 to 2019 has been from 75 to 90 %, and their equity ratio equals that they do not need funding from outside. The table says that, an equity ratio of Kuopion Palloseura is much worse than their competitors, and they are not financially stable on their own, and need funding from others.

EBITDA % EBITDA % EBITDA % EBITDA % EBITDA % 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 KuPs -78,00% -83,90% -21.3% -47.1% FC Inter -206,00% -341,20% -241,30% -117,00% HJK 5,10% 11,50% 5,80% -6,30%

This table says, that Kuopion Palloseura's EBITDA percentage in 2019 was -47,1 %. Every year it has been on minus, and the biggest was -83,9 % in 2016. FC Inter Turku's EBITDA percentage in 2019 was -117 %. From 2016 to 2019, their EBITDA percentage has been on minus like Kuopion Palloseura's. FC Inter Turku's biggest minus was -341,2 %. HJK Helsinki's EBITDA percentage has been on plus from 2016 to 2018. The biggest has been as 11,5 %. HJK Helsinki's EBITDA percentage in 2019 was 6,3 %. According to the table, FC Inter Turku's EBITDA percentage is the worst of the competitors.

According to Investopedia (2020), EBITDA percentage stands for Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciations and Amortization. EBITDA percentage equals looks for company's operating profitability. It does tell that, operating profitability of HJK Helsinki has decreased from 2015 to 2019. According to the table, FC Inter Turku's operating profitability has increased from 2015 to 2018 and Kuopion Palloseura's operating profitability has increased from 2016 to 2019. That means for HJK Helsinki is less wealthier company and FC Inter Turku and Kuopion Palloseura are more wealthier than before. 28

EBIT % EBIT % EBIT % EBIT % EBIT % 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 KuPs -81,00% -87,10% -21.8% -48.8% FC Inter -220,90% -359,50% -258,90% -117,60% HJK 7,50% 1,10% 2,20% 3,80% -7,90%

As a conclusion to the table, EBIT percentage stands for how much company has profit after turnover. That equals for HJK Helsinki's turnover has decreased, Kuopion Palloseura's and FC Inter Turku's turnover has increased. The conclusion is that HJK Helsinki's supporter's interest has decreased when looking back to 2015. 29

JYP Jyväskylä

An engagement rate means different things in social media. As an example, on Facebook the engagement rate means comments, likes, clicks, and shares. On Twitter, engagement rate means retweets, comments, and likes. (SproutSocial, n.d.). The engagement rate by post (ER by post) is when you count total engagement by specific post and divide those from the total amount of followers. Multiplying with 100, you have the total amount. The average ER per post is counted by sum the total engagement by post and dividing with the number of posts. Next, the author looks for JYP Jyväskylä's ER by post on their latest Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube release.

The latest release (28th Sep 2020) is the hype video clip before the match, which was released on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Twitter ER by post is 17+1+471 / 9450 * 100 = 5,174. Facebook ER by post is 180+1+3+1849 / 48467 *100 = 4,194. YouTube ER by post is 24+3+216 /2900 *100 = 8,379.

JYP Jyväskylä Twitter Facebook's YouTube 5,17 4,19 8,38

The table states that JYP Jyväskylä's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 139,22. There are nine posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 30

JYP Jyväskylä Average of weekly Twitter ER by post Post 1 6

Post 2 (1+22+1089)=1112

Post 3 27

Post 4 (1+10)=11

Post 5 11

Post 6 11

Post 7 18

Post 8 (2+6+20)=28

Post 9 (9+20)=29

Total 6+1112+27+11+11+11+18+28+29 / 9 = 139,22

The table states that JYP Jyväskylä's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 201,375. There are sixteen posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 31

JYP Jyväskylä Average of weekly Facebook's ER by post Post 1 (46+1)=47 Post 2 (51+1)=52 Post 3 (159+1)=160 Post 4 (529+21)=550 Post 5 79 Post 6 (120+3+2)=125 Post 7 (285+9)=294 Post 8 (136+3+1)=140 Post 9 (251+1+1)=254 Post 10 (40+5)=45 Post 11 (79+4)=84 Post 12 (148+3)=151 Post 13 (186+9+1)=196 Post 14 (686+32+6)=724 Post 15 63 Post 16 (252+6+1)=259 Total 47+52+160+550+79+125+294+140+2 54+45+84+151+196+724+63+259 / 16 = 201,4375

Average of the last weeks posts YouTube ER by post: Post 1: 24+3+216 = 243

JYP Jyväskylä Average of weekly YouTube ER by post Post 1 243

Total 243 / 1 = 243 32

HPK Hämeenlinna

The latest Facebook and Twitter release (Sep 2020) of HPK Hämeenlinna is a promotion for the season ticket sales. The latest release (9th Sep 2020) on YouTube was a pre-match interview before the game versus SaiPa. HPK Hämeenlinna's engagement rate by the latest release in Twitter ER by post is 6 / 11050 * 100 = 0,054. Facebook ER by post 40/ 48467 * 100 = 0,082. YouTube ER by post is (6+1+284)/1870 *100 = 15,561

HPK Hämeenlinna Twitter Facebook YouTube 0,054. 0,08 15,56

The table states that HPK Hämeenlinna's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 16,947. There are nineteen posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40.

HPK Average of Twitter ER by post last Hämeenlinna week Post 1 (7+7+56)=70 Post 2 (2+11)=13 Post 3 (1+4)=5 Post 4 9 Post 5 (4+17)=21 Post 6 (4+14)=18 Post 7 7 Post 8 (2+8)=10 Post 9 (1+16)=17 Post 10 (2+11)=13 Post 11 (1+44)=45 Post 12 9 Post 13 (1+10)=11 Post 14 (1+1+12)=14 Post 15 3 Post 16 12 Post 17 19 Post 18 (1+15)=16 Post 19 (1+9)=10 Total 70+13+5+9+21+18+7+10+17+13+45+ 9+11+14+3+12+19+16+10 /19 = 33

16,947

The table states that HPK Hämeenlinna's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 287,22. There are eighteen posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40.

HPK Average of Facebook's ER by the post Hämeenlinna in last week (week 40) Post 1 20

Post 2 (530+11+6)= 547

Post 3 (158+10+2)= 170

Post 4 (122+13+4)=139

Post 5 (168+52)=220

Post 6 (125+20)=145

Post 7 (111+33)= 144

Post 8 (73+1+1+1942)= 2017

Post 9 (200+20+5)=225

Post 10 (388+13+4)= 405

Post 11 (97+23)= 120

Post 12 (50+14)=64

Post 13 (126+19+3)= 148

Post 14 (61+10+4)= 75

Post 15 (76+22)= 98

Post 16 (373+1+2)= 376

Post 17 (92+27)= 119

Post 18 (107+29+2)= 138 34

Total 170+139+220+145+144+2017+225+4 05+120+64+148+75+98+376+119+13 8/18 = 287,22

HPK Hämeenlinna did not release videos to YouTube for last week (week 40). That is why their weekly average equals zero.

Ässät Pori

The Ässät Pori's latest release on Facebook and Twitter is “player card” of one of Ässät Pori's defensemen, where he tells about the favorite music, food etc. According to statistics, Ässät Pori's engagement rate by the latest release in Twitter ER by post is (19) /13000 * 100 = 0,146. Facebook ER by post in latest release was (79+2+1) /32 038 * 100 = 0,255. On YouTube, the latest (30th Sep 2020) release was a hype video before the match versus TPS Turku. YouTube ER by the post in latest release was (562+38) / 3490* 100 =17,19.

Ässät Pori Twitter Facebook YouTube 0,146. 0,255. 17,19.

The table states that Ässät Pori's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 32,65. There are twenty posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 35

Ässät Pori Average of Twitter ER by the post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (1+6+35)=42 Post 2 (2+2+16)=20 Post 3 4 Post 4 (2+3+22)=27 Post 5 (1+1+17)=19 Post 6 22 Post 7 (3+27)=30 Post 8 (6+41)=47 Post 9 (2+6+32)= 40 Post 10 (3+17)= 20 Post 11 (1+1+32)= 34 Post 12 (6+5+22)= 33 Post 13 (2+26)= 28 Post 14 (2+32)= 34 Post 15 54 Post 16 12 Post 17 (2+4+41)= 47 Post 18 (1+1+13)= 15 Post 19 (2+5+64)= 71 Post 20 (3+5+46)= 54 Total 42+20+4+27+19+22+30+47+40+20 +34+33+28+34+54+12+47+15/20 =32,65

The table states that Ässät Pori's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 1264,33. There are twentyseven posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 36

Ässät Pori Average of Facebook's ER by post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (206+2)= 208 Post 2 (154+2)= 156 Post 3 (188+4)= 192 Post 4 (133+2+2)= 137 Post 5 (127+1)= 128 Post 6 (184+1+4)= 189 Post 7 (375+11+5)= 391 Post 8 (223+8+17+22442)= 22690 Post 9 (178+1+5)= 184 Post 10 97

Post 11 (187+1)= 188 Post 12 207

Post 13 (199+6+1)=206 Post 14 (186+3+2)= 191 Post 15 (275+10+59)=344 Post 16 (731+22+7)= 760 Post 17 (258+7)= 265 Post 18 (175+14+2)= 191 Post 19 (252+26+3)= 281 Post 20 (75+12)= 87 Post 21 (660+29+11)= 700 Post 22 (223+2+4)=229 Post 23 79

Post 24 (261+3+6+4990)= 5260 Post 25 (5+16+246)= 267 Post 26 (246+16+5)= 267 Post 27 (240+3)= 243 Total 208+156+192+137+128+189+391+ 22690+184+97+188+207+206+191 37

+344+760+265+191+281+87+700+ 229+79+5260+267+267+243/27 = 1264,33

The table states that Ässät Pori's average of YouTube's ER in the last week (week 40) is 1321,5. There are two posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40.

Ässät Pori Average of YouTube's ER by post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (11+52+3+1639)=1705

Post 2 (914+24)=938

Total 1705+938 /2 = 1321.5

Kuopion Palloseura The situation analysis of Kuopion Palloseura takes a look at similar football teams in Finnish top division “Veikkausliiga”. These teams are FC Inter Turku and HJK Helsinki. Kuopion Palloseura's latest release on Facebook and Twitter (5th Oct 2020) is about promoting match day versus Ilves Tampere. Kuopion Palloseura's engagement rate by latest release in Twitter ER by post is (1+2+35)=38 /8514 *100 = 0,446. Facebook's ER by post is (183+5)=188 / 18374 *100 = 1,023. Kuopion Palloseura's latest release on YouTube is the highlights of the Europe League Playoff Round game versus CFR Cluj (2nd Oct 2020). YouTube's ER by post is (43+2+2181)=2226 / 2570 *100 = 86,617.

Kuopion Twitter Facebook YouTube Palloseura 0,446. 1,02 86,617.

The table states that Kuopion Palloseura's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 66,77. There are thirtysix posts which comments, likes, retweets, clicks which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 38

Kuopion Average of Twitter ER by the post Palloseura in last week (week 40) Post 1 (2+52)=54

Post 2 88

Post 3 (2+1+51)=54

Post 4 (2+11+143)=156

Post 5 80

Post 6 (1+1+92)=94

Post 7 (1+5+33)=39

Post 8 (3+6+93)=102

Post 9 21

Post 10 (2+31+205)= 238

Post 11 (1+3+92)=96

Post 12 (2+12+79)=93

Post 13 (2+2+88)=92

Post 14 (3+7+66)=76

Post 15 (8+39+304)=351

Post 16 16

Post 17 (1+35)=36

Post 18 (7+18+100)=125

Post 19 (2+1+30)=33 39

Post 20 (1+5+30)=36

Post 21 18

Post 22 (1+1+8)=10

Post 23 6

Post 24 5

Post 25 (2+1+6)=9

Post 26 (1+8)=9

Post 27 (3+1+4)=8

Post 28 1 Post 29 2 Post 30 2 Post 31 (2+62)=64

Post 32 (6+11+155)=172

Post 33 (3+3+142)=148

Post 34 (1+15)=16

Post 35 (1+1+28)=30

Post 36 24

Total 54+88+54+156+94+39+102+21+238+96+ 93+92+76+351+16+36+125+33+36+18+1 0+6+5+9+9+8+1+2+2+64+172+148+16+3 0+24= 2404/36 =66,77

The table states that Kuopion Palloseura's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 3840. There are twentythree posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 40

Kuopion Average of Facebook's ER by the post Palloseura in last week (week 40) Post 1 (317+6+3)=326 Post 2 (1186+40+26)=1252 Post 3 (613+1+1)=615 Post 4 78 Post 5 (685+53+7)=745 Post 6 (204+2)=206 Post 7 (986+21+31+59955)= 60993 Post 8 (716+37+5)=758 Post 9 (249+13+9)=271 Post 10 (365+16+4)=385 Post 11 (223+7+1)= 231 Post 12 (730+31+67)= 758 Post 13 (139+4+3+5091)= 5237 Post 14 (224+7)= 231 Post 15 (397+31+8)= 385 Post 16 (223+7+1)= 185 Post 17 (217+16+5672)= 5905 Post 18 (103+44+2)= 149 Post 19 (760+57+8)= 825 Post 20 (678+28+1)= 707 Post 21 98 Post 22 (148+4+1)=153 Post 23 (220+6+7601)= 7827 Total 326+1252+615+78+745+206+60993+75 8+271+385+231+758+5237+231+385+1 85+5905+149+825+707+98+153+7827 = 88 320 /23 = 3840

The table states that Kuopion Palloseura's average of YouTube's ER in the last week (week 40) is 2433,75. There are four posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 41

Kuopion Average of YouTube ER by the post Palloseura in last week (week 40) Post 1 (2299+61+2)=2362

Post 2 (2665+61+5)=2731

Post 3 (2291+100)=2391

Post 4 (2206+43+2)= 2251

Total 2362+2731+2391+2251/4 = 2433,75

FC Inter Turku

The latest post of FC Inter Turku (5th Oct 2020) on Twitter is about a result of FC Inter Turku's second team. FC Inter Turku's engagement rate by latest release in Twitter ER by post is 4/6644 *100 = 0,06. Facebook's ER by post is 11 / 13479 *100 = 0,081. The latest (2nd Oct 2020) YouTube release is a pre-game video for Finnish Cup Final versus HJK Helsinki. FC Inter Turku's YouTube ER by the latest post is (218+7)=225 / 1650 *100 = 13,636.

FC Inter Turku Twitter Facebook YouTube 0,06. 0,081. 13,636.

The table states that FC Inter Turku's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 13,484. There are thirtythree posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 42

FC Inter Turku Average of Twitter ER by the post in last week (week 40) Post 1 0 Post 2 4 Post 3 (2+1+9)=11 Post 4 1 Post 5 5 Post 6 (1+1+10)=12 Post 7 2 Post 8 (1+3)=4 Post 9 (4+14)=18 Post 10 47

Post 11 (1+54)=55 Post 12 9

Post 13 4

Post 14 (3+29)=32 Post 15 9

Post 16 (1+16)= 17 Post 17 (1+14)=15 Post 18 0

Post 19 (1+67)=68 Post 20 (2+10)=12 Post 21 6

Post 22 (1+1+9)=11 Post 23 1

Post 24 6

Post 25 17

Post 26 (1+1+5)=7 43

Post 27 0

Post 28 (1+2+16)=19 Post 29 1

Post 30 (1+12)=13 Post 31 (2+1+12)=15 Post 32 2 Post 33 22 Total 0+4+11+1+5+12+2+4+18+47+55+9+4+3 2+9+17+15+0+68+12+6+11+1+6+17+7+ 0+19+1+13+15+2+22/33= 13,484

The table states that FC Inter Turku's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 265,25. There are twentyeight posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 44

FC Inter Turku Average of Facebook's ER by the post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (36+1)= 37 Post 2 (27+2+659)= 688 Post 3 48 Post 4 (69+1)=70 Post 5 (34+1+2)=37 Post 6 (47+2+2)=51 Post 7 (73+19)=92 Post 8 (333+7)=340 Post 9 (161+2+1132)= 1295 Post 10 62 Post 11 69 Post 12 (114+11+1)=126 Post 13 (86+1+2+851)= 940 Post 14 (81+3)=84 Post 15 (78+1)=79 Post 16 (67+14+3+1026)= 1110 Post 17 (247+6+1)= 254 Post 18 29 Post 19 (50+1)=51 Post 20 (32+2+1+771)=806 Post 21 (53+1)=54 Post 22 (58+2+709)= 769 Post 23 37 Post 24 (111+4)=115 Post 25 (66+2+2)=70 Post 26 (43+5+1)=49 Post 27 (25+4)=29 Post 28 36 Total 37+688+48+37+51+92+340+1295+62+6 9+126+940+84+79+1110+254+29+51+8 06+54+769+37+115+70+49+29+36 /28 = 265,25 45

The table states that FC Inter Turku's average of YouTube's ER in the last week (week 40) is 201. There are two posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40.

FC Inter Turku Average of YouTube ER by post last week Post 1 (218+7)=225 Post 2 (169+8)=177 Total 225+177 /2 = 201

HJK Helsinki

HJK Helsinki's latest release (5th Oct 2020) is about the result of their second team Klubi 04. Twitter engagement rate by latest post is (4+15)=19/21500* 100 = 0,088. HJK Helsinki's engagement rate in Facebook's ER by post is (41+1)=42 /49 953 *100 = 0,084. HJK Helsinki's latest release (5th Oct 2020) on Youtube is match highlights of a Finnish Cup Final versus FC Inter Turku. Their engagement rate in the latest release on Youtube ER by post is (1462+59+1)=1522 / 7620*100= 19,973.

HJK Helsinki Twitter Facebook YouTube 0,088. 0,084. 19,973.

The table states that HJK Helsinki's average of Twitter ER in the last week (week 40) is 55,169. There are fiftythree posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 46

HJK Helsinki Average of Twitter ER by the post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (3+15)= 18 Post 2 (8+10)=18 Post 3 (2+17+78)= 97 Post 4 (8+30)= 38 Post 5 (2+10+57)= 69 Post 6 (3+17)= 20 Post 7 (4+33)= 37 Post 8 (9+42)= 51 Post 9 (3+9)=12 Post 10 (2+40)= 42 Post 11 (5+39)=44 Post 12 (2+34)=36 Post 13 (1+4+24)=29 Post 14 (3+7)= 10 Post 15 (2+7)=9 Post 16 (2+9)=11 Post 17 (4+8+99)= 111 Post 18 (2+12)= 14 Post 19 (6+36)=42 Post 20 (1+7+34)= 42 Post 21 (13+40)= 53 Post 22 (9+36)= 45 Post 23 (5+24)= 29 Post 24 (9+20)= 29 Post 25 (9+60)= 69 Post 26 (3+21)= 24 Post 27 (2+12)= 14 Post 28 (10+84)= 94 Post 29 (8+46)=54 Post 30 9 Post 31 (1+6+35)=42 Post 32 (4+14+65)=83 47

Post 33 (3+16+89)=108 Post 34 (11+43)=54 Post 35 (9+28)=37 Post 36 (15+41)=56 Post 37 (12+44)=56 Post 38 (3+50)=53 Post 39 (5+22)=27 Post 40 (1+5+50)=56 Post 41 (3+9)=12 Post 42 (5+24+226)= 255 Post 43 (2+11+67)=80 Post 44 (2+27+144)= 173 Post 45 (16+82)=98 Post 46 (5+31)=36 Post 47 (3+15+101)=119 Post 48 (5+19)=24 Post 49 (4+24)=28 Post 50 (1+12+41)=54 Post 51 (2+24+192)= 218 Post 52 (3+13)= 16 Post 53 (7+62)= 69 Total 18+18+97+38+69+20+37+51+12+42+ 44+36+29+10+9+11+111+14+42+42+ 53+45+ +29+29+69+24+14+94+54+9+42+83+ 108+54+37+56+56+53+27+56+12+25 5+80+173+98+36+119+24+28+54+21 8+16+69 /53 = 55,169

The table states that HJK Helsinki's average of Facebook's ER in the last week (week 40) is 1099,57. There are seven posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 48

HJK Helsinki Average of Facebook's ER by the post in last week (week 40) Post 1 (274+17+2+3)= 296 Post 2 (1100+40+2)= 1142 Post 3 (2500+57+4+4)= 2565 Post 4 (555+22+1+1)= 579 Post 5 (670+26+1)= 697 Post 6 (624+19+1)= 644 Post 7 (1700+68+1+5)= 1774 Total 296+1142+2565+579+697+544+1774 / 7=1099,57

The table states that HJK Helsinki's average of YouTube's ER in the last week (week 40) is 871,28. There are seven posts which comments, likes, clicks etc., have counted together and divided with the post numbers in week 40. 49

HJK Helsinki Average of YouTube's ER by the post last week (week 40) Post 1 (300+15+2+3)=320

Post 2 (995+33)=1028

Post 3 (2321+34+1)=2356

Post 4 (402+11+1)=415

Post 5 (467+14)=481

Post 6 (318+9)=327

Post 7 (1138+34)=1172 Total 320+1028+2356+415+481+327+1172 = 6099/7 = 871,28 50

Engagement rate analysis

Latest post Twitter ER Average of the Twitter ER in week 40 JYP Jyväskylä 5,17 139,22

HPK Hämeenlinna 0,054. 16,947. Ässät Pori 0,146. 32,65

In this part, JYP Jyväskylä's Twitter, Facebook's and YouTube ER by post and average of the last week (week 40) are compared with HPK Hämeenlinna's and Ässät Pori's. JYP Jyväskylä's Twitter engagement rate by post was the highest, with a rate of 5,17. Ässät Pori's Twitter engagement rate by post was the second with a rate of 0,146. The HPK Hämeelinna's rate was the lowest. Reason for JYP Jyväskylä's good Twitter engagement rate is, that this post is a video, which increases a better engagement rate. The best ER average in week 40 had JYP Jyväskylä, with a rate 139,22.

Latest post Facebook Average of the Facebook ER ER in week 40 JYP Jyväskylä 4,19 201,38

HPK Hämeenlinna 0,08 287,22 Ässät Pori 0,255. 1264,33

This table states that the average of Facebook's ER in week (week 40) was Ässät Pori, with a rate of 1264,33. Ässät Pori had the best average Facebook ER because their video views increased numbers a lot. HPK Hämeenlinna was the second and JYP Jyväskylä in the last place. According to that JYP Jyväskylä's rate is obviously lower than HPK Hämeenlinna's. JYP Jyväskylä's rate is much lower than Ässät Pori's. The table states that Facebook engagement rate by the latest post had Ässät Pori, with a clear difference for competitors.

Latest Post YouTube Average of the YouTube ER ER in week 40 JYP Jyväskylä 8,38 243

HPK Hämeenlinna 10,03 0 Ässät Pori 17,19 1321.5 51

The table states the results from YouTube ER by post and the average of last week (week 40). The best average YouTube ER in week 40 had Ässät Pori, with a rate of 1321.5. In the second place was JYP Jyväskylä, with a rate of 243. At the last place was HPK Hämeenlinna. They did not release YouTube videos in week 40. The table about YouTube ER by post states that Ässät Pori had the best engagement rate. The best average YouTube ER in week 40 had Ässät Pori because the relation between the post numbers, likes, comments, and views was better than others. The worst average YouTube ER in week 40 had HPK Hämeenlinna because the team did not release YouTube videos.

According to the table, Ässät Pori had the best average ER by post in week 40 on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. JYP Jyväskylä finished as second, and HPK Hämeenlinna's engagement rate by post in a week 40 in social media was the worst. The best ER by latest release on Twitter, and Facebook was JYP Jyväskylä. On Youtube, the best ER by latest release of the ice hockey teams had Ässät Pori.

Last Post on Twitter Average of the Twitter ER ER in week 40 Kuopion Palloseura 0,446. 66,77

FC Inter Turku 0,06 13,48

HJK Helsinki 0,088. 55,17

The table states that the best engagement rate of the latest post on Twitter has Kuopion Palloseura. Kuopion Palloseura has the best engagement rate of the latest release on Twitter, because of the best relation, between followers, and likes, and retweets. The table states that Kuopion Palloseura's average of the last week (week 40) Twitter's engagement rate by post (66,77) was better than FC Inter Turku's or HJK Helsinki's. Reason for Kuopion Palloseura's good engagement rate is that their relation between posts and likes, retweets, comments, and views is better than others. The lowest Twitter ER by post average in a week 40 had FC Inter Turku, with a rate of 13,48. Reason for this is that their rate for likes, retweets, and comments was low comparing to post numbers. HJK Helsinki's weekly ER by post rate on Twitter was 55,15.

Last Post on Facebook Average of the Facebook ER in week ER 40 Kuopion Palloseura 1,02 3840

FC Inter Turku 0,081. 265,25

HJK Helsinki 0,084. 1099,57 52

The table states the Facebook engagement rates according to the latest post and the average of week 40. The table states that the best engagement rate of the latest post on Facebook has Kuopion Palloseura, with a rate of 1,02. A reason can be good relation between followers and likes, views, and comments. According to the table, the lowest Facebook ER by post average in week 40 had FC Inter Turku, with a rate of 265.25. HJK Helsinki in week 40 finished as the second. Kuopion Palloseura had the best average Facebook ER in week 40, with a rate of 3840. Reason can be good relation between post numbers and comments, views, likes et cetera.

Last Post on YouTube Average of the YouTube ER ER in week 40 Kuopion Palloseura 86,617. 2433,75

FC Inter Turku 13,636. 201

HJK Helsinki 19,97 871,28

The table states the YouTube engagement rates according to the latest post and the average of week 40. The best YouTube engagement rate of the latest post has Kuopion Palloseura with a rate 86,617, because the topic of the video was interesting. In the last place was FC Inter Turku with a rate of 13,636. Bad relation between the followers, likes, and comments, and not uninteresting topic of the tweet. The best average YouTube ER in week 40, had Kuopion Palloseura. The relation between post numbers and likes, retweets, comments, and views was better than others. Their engagement rate in week 40 was 2433,75. HJK Helsinki's was the second, and FC Inter Turku was at the last place.

According to table, the best ER rate on social media of the three football teams has Kuopion Palloseura. The table states that Kuopion Palloseura's ER rate by a post in week 40 on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube was the best. HJK Helsinki finished as the second, and FC Inter Turku's average weekly engagement rate on social media was the worst for the three football clubs. The order was the same for engagement in the latest social media posts. 53

4.3 Problems and challenges for engaging the customers in the sports clubs

According to Seitz O. (2017), the sports clubs have the problems engaging the supporters, who are further away. Engaging with the supporters, who live nearby the club is much easier. Usually those supporters are the ones who started supporting the sports club when the club was successful. It is also much easier to engage the local fans, than the distant ones.

There are challenges to how sports clubs can engage the customers. Arranging fan events, for example, create more fan engagement, especially events where players can meet the supporters. Another example is to arrange watch parties for away games. One part of the solution for these challenges could also be, if the teams will provide more interesting details based on data. Both teams have the possibilities to provide these details for fans before and after the games. Ice hockey teams have in Finland have “smart puck”-systems from Bitwise Ltd. (Liiga, 2019), where they could provide information, as an example who carried the puck most. For football teams in Finland there is the InStat -system, which gives different kinds of performance analysis of players and team. (Veikkausliiga, 2020)

The sports clubs in this thesis are the football team Kuopion Palloseura and the ice hockey team JYP Jyväskylä. The author has found problems for engaging the supporters. As an example, JYP Jyväskylä's problems are that team generates somewhat boring social media content. The videos are proper examples of engaging fans closer to the team. According to the author, both JYP Jyväskylä and Kuopion Palloseura do not engage the fans in-game as much as they could. Both of their stadiums are old and not suitable for professional sports in the modern era. 54

5. CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the author states the answer for the research question “How to acquire brand loyalty by engaging new supporters to sports teams?” The answer can be that acquiring brand loyalty happens with a long-time process. Becoming a loyal supporter needs, that team is marketed properly. Also, the club has to be more interesting than others when they play their games.

New supporter engagement is possible when connecting them to where they have not been before. The club has to know first what the supporters are like. It is called segmentation and is done based on demographic or psychographic groups. One example of segment supporters could be based on how well the season tickets holders match to the region's age and gender charts. If there is an age group, which is large in the area, but minority with season ticket holders, it is important keep them as a target group and to gain new supporters.

It is possible to broaden markets with the cooperation of big events. Another way to broaden markets is to have a new department. For the multi-sport club this is possible when you connect new supporters via the floorball team. These supporters want to know later how the other departments perform. It is important to remember that you can not estimate new supporters are similar and will spend same amount of money to fan merchandise.

Summarizing the statistics, it is possible for the engagement rate by post and weekly average on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube for JYP Jyväskylä. To JYP Jyväskylä they had on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. When comparing with Ässät Pori and HPK Hämeenlinna it is by post in Twitter JYP Jyväskylä was the best. Ässät Pori's Twitter engagement rate by post weekly average in week 40, was the best. The second place was JYP Jyväskylä's. Also, JYP Jyväskylä's engagement rate by post on Facebook is better than other two teams. According to statistics, that a team with the best week 40 average ER rates on Facebook is Ässät Pori. JYP Jyväskylä is the second in weekly ER rates on Facebook. The best engagement rate by post on YouTube does have Ässät Pori, and JYP Jyväskylä's rates are the worst. Statistics does tell that on YouTube, Ässät Pori does have the best weekly average ER rates.

Kuopion Palloseura's engagement rates means, that they are comparing two other Veikkausliiga teams, on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Comparing Twitter's engagement rate by post team to other teams was Kuopion Palloseura the second. The best Twitter ER by post has HJK Helsinki. The average weekly engagement rate on Twitter, Kuopion Palloseura's rate was the best, when looking to other teams FC Inter Turku was worst. On Facebook's the engagement rate by post is Kuopion Palloseura also the best in this platform. Kuopion Palloseura's Facebook's weekly engagement rate seems to better comparing to other teams. The worst team on average Facebook rates was FC Inter Turku. Kuopion Palloseura's engagement rate by post on YouTube is better than HJK and FC Inter. Weekly engagement rate on YouTube for Kuopion Palloseura is clearly better than others.

When looking financially JYP Jyväskylä's financial situation is worse compared to two other Liiga -teams. JYP Jyväskylä's turnover is higher than HPK Hämeenlinna's and Ässät Pori's. They have mainly received losses lately, when Ässät Pori there has been ups and downs. For 55 the last two years Ässät Pori has made modest profits. HPK Hämeenlinna has also made profit for the last two years, when before that they made losses three years in the row. An equity ratio has been on the minus side in JYP Jyväskylä for two years. Comparing to Ässät and HPK their equity ratio has been on the plus side the last 5 years. JYP Jyväskylä's EBITDA percentage is comparing to Ässät Pori and HPK Hämeenlinna was one of the worst. JYP Jyväskylä's EBIT percentage was the worst of all three teams.

The financial situation of Kuopion Palloseura is better than FC Inter Turku's, but not as good as HJK Helsinki's, when looking the Veikkausliiga -teams. Kuopion Palloseura's turnover is comparing to all three football teams as the second after HJK Helsinki. The statistics states, that HJK Helsinki is the only team that has made profits, when other teams made only losses. The losses of Kuopion Palloseura are smaller than FC Inter Turku.

An equity ratio of the teams shows , that the worst one is Kuopion Palloseura, and the best one is HJK Helsinki. The EBITDA percentage of the football teams shows, that HJK Helsinki has the best percentage comparing to the others. The EBIT percentage shows according to statistics, that the highest one is HJK Helsinki. FC Inter Turku's EBIT percentage was the worst.

Key points of the thesis are that, for teams it is important them that the fans are connected in different ways. As an example can be increasing engagement of the different customer segments. The team could have special events, like for students, or family games. Those family games could be more friendly for children, like an exceptional kick-off. Also, it could be possible that the team mascot will engage more children to a family game. As an example, the team mascot can arrange face painting. There are ways of how to engage the supporters, when it is not a game day. When the game is on it is possibile to create more possibilities for the supporters. As an example the team can ask from the supporters, playlist to the game. One example could be for holding a competition, where the winner might receive game jersey with player's signature.

Brand loyalty is that supporters have something in that team that they prefer to others. It may be family relationship, regional ties or then they may have seen a series of good matches from them, which got the stuck in. Well created customer service or story for the brand increases brand loyalty. There are supporters, who are more passionate and some supporters watch the games occasionally, Then there are also persons who will watch the games only on TV. For some of the supporters it is more important to buy merchandise and others may talk more about the tactics. There are supporters who are more profitable to others, even though they had been supporters for a long time.

This thesis is significant because it shows where these sports clubs’ social media it functions and where malfunctions. The author found out that JYP Jyväskylä's social media platforms could generate more comments than what exists. Comments increase more engagement. The social media platforms give media visibility for the team, and interesting social media presence could generate more sponsorship deals. These deals would provide for teams visibility in the different fields of business. That would create a possibility for new supporters. Visibility for sponsors is significant, and they are quite visible in JYP Jyväskylä's social media platforms. JYP Jyväskylä generates a competition of the opening scorer, where the winner receives a prize from the sponsor. These kind of competitions receive more comments for JYP Jyväskylä's social media. The author indicates the importance of the thesis, which can be 56 seen as an example when the author describes how the sports clubs studied have done fan engagement on social media. The sports clubs can make an account for social media platforms, which are the unknown for supporters and could generate more engagement. The importance can also be seen, that author states the main aim of brand loyalty in the sports. 57

6. LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Part of the limitations was that there are measurements the author had to decrease. The reason for that was thesis is not based on information from the commissioner, only what has been found and calculated. For example, one of the limitations was that conversions and page clicks were unable to calculate. Also, brand loyalty has metrics, which were unable to calculate as an example, Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). It would have needed agree with sports clubs to be a commissioner to recieve more social media statistics.

Fan engagement is an important part of creating the story of the brand. Improving the fan engagement will keep connecting the sports club and supporters. As a recommendation for the future to the sports clubs is that the author recommends for listening as much as supporters they can on- and off-site. Ask the fans what kind of social media content are they interested in and what the supporters want to see. What kind of partners supporters keep appropriate and what they do not. It would create a better profile for the brand.

The author recommends for future that teams understand to measure constantly the brand loyalty with different metrics as an example with Customer Lifetime Value. Sports clubs have to reasearch that how the new possible supporters, also known as “prospects” make an adaption as a part of the fan community. According to the author, a recommendation for the future is to research that could the sports club increase the brand loyalty for some supporters. These supporters are also known as “casual” supporters. They are more invisible than “passionate” fans. The author recommends, that it is possible to improve profit probability in some supporter segments. There might be loyal supporters, but uninterested to buy tickets or fan merchandise. This is issue, which is worth of examine.

As the recommendation for the future is needed, that the teams should look after their social media strategies. Action that teams need to make is to create more content, which engages people. Ask the questions from supporters, to make player Q&A's, and interesting videos could create more engagement in social media platforms. The author suggests for JYP Jyväskylä to arrange more competions where they could receive the prize from the sponsor. Recommendation from the author is that Kuopion Palloseura can make an improvement for their social media plaforms, and make more videos with different ideas, specically after the season. After end of the season (17 Nov 2020), it could be possible that team would engage supporters with a campaign, where they could support the team for increasing the player budget. One suggestion can be that supporters could have a chance for order, make the transaction via application, and orders transfer right to the seats. (Yonoton, n.d.) 58

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