Abstract
This research was carried out in order to determine the level of identification of female fans with the team they support in the social framework of sports and to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors that motivate them as spectators to watch the competitions. The study was conducted according to the relational screening model. The study population of the research consisted of female supporters in the West Black Sea and Marmara region. The sample group is consisted of a total of 542 participants selected by the random sampling method. As a data collection tool, in order to measure the commitment of the fans to their teams, the “Sport Supporter Recognition Scale, which was developed by Wann and Branscombe (1993), and whose validity and reliability study was carried out in Turkish by Günay and Tiryaki (2003) was used in the present study. In order to measure the motivation to watch sports, a questionnaire consisting of 16 sub-dimensions and 45 questions developed by Polat and Yalçın (2020) was used. “Sports spectators extrinsic and intrinsic motivation scale” was used, with a reliability coefficient varying between 0.93 and 0.96. Since the collected data showed normal distribution, Pearson Correlation analysis, t-test, ANOVA and MANOVA were used in statistical analysis from Parametric Hypothesis tests. As a conclusion, it has been determined that as the age of female fans increases, their level of identification with their team and motivation to watch sports decrease. On the other hand, the level of identification with the teams of the participants who follow the sports activities everyday increases, and their internal and external motives such as sports passion, competition, supporter, local loyalty, social sharing, popularity, familiy ties, media influence, ethical values, game knowledge, cultural development and aesthestic values have been found to be high.