Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between team identity and team performance with the intention of fans with the mediating role of satisfying the pleasure-seeking need and the immersion experience of Persepolis fans in Hamadan city.
Methods: In terms of the purpose of this research, it is an applied research, and in terms of research strategy, it is a correlational research with a structural equation model approach, which was implemented in the field. The statistical population of the research included all the fans of the Persepolis team in Hamadan city, and the available non-random method based on the sample size formula of Homan et al. Finally, 251 questionnaires were analyzed. In order to collect data from the standard sports media consumption questionnaires of Kim et al. (2019) including 27 items and 5 variables (team identity, team performance, fan intention, hedonistic need and immersion experience) with a 5-point Likert scale (very little = 1 to very much) High=5) was used.
Results: In data analysis, descriptive statistics were used to classify data and to test research hypotheses, Pearson correlation coefficients were used using SPSS software and structural equation modeling, as well as PLS software. The results of the research indicate that team identity has a significant positive direct effect on the intention to attend, immersion experience and satisfying the hedonistic need, team performance on the immersion experience and satisfying the hedonistic need of the fans. Also, in the research model, it was observed that team identity has a significant positive mediating role on the intention of Persepolis fans to attend in the city of Hamedan, considering the mediating role of immersion experience and fulfilling pleasure-seeking needs, as well as team performance on the intention of Persepolis fans to attend in the city of Hamedan, considering the role The mediator of immersion experience has a significant positive indirect effect.
Conclusion: Finally, based on the results, it can be said that the experience of immersion and the fulfillment of the hedonistic need can be diagnostic signs for evaluating the quality of the effect of performance and team identity on the audience's intention to attend.