Fan Involvement and Unusual Investor Behavior: Evidence from a Football Fan Bond

Sport clubs offer marginal substitutable services and thus achieve strong emotional ties with their customers and fans. If sport clubs need financial support from their fans via a bond, the behavior of these investors might differ from that of less tied-in bond investors. The degree of fan involvement might be a decisive factor. Therefore, we use survey data obtained during a football club bond issue. We find correlations suggesting that fan bond investors with a higher fan involvement have a higher probability of investing as well as a greater tendency toward unusual investment behavior. The results are of relevance to sport managers when planning the issue of a bond.