Global fan activism in sports: Digital collective action and the case of #EmptyOldTrafford

At a time of growing consumer activism facilitated by digital communications, the phenomenon of collective action increasingly confronts sports clubs. This study examines an episode involving fans of a globally recognized football club (Manchester United) who were able make the hashtag #EmptyOldTrafford trend globally in protest towards the club’s ownership at the time.

Citation

Chadwick, S., Ahmed, W., Hardey, M., & Fenton, A. (2025). Global fan activism in sports: Digital collective action and the case of #EmptyOldTrafford. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol(issue), pages. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-02-2025-5226

Publisher

Emerald

Journal

International Journal of Organizational Analysis

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10034/629613

DOI

10.1108/IJOA-02-2025-5226

Type

Article

Description

This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact permissions@emerald.com.

ISSN

1551-7470