Thorsten Tham highlights the fundamental changes that have swept Germany’s footballing landscape in recent years and presents theory-based impact hypotheses about forms of stimulus that can raise the loyalty of football-affine target groups before, during and after the game. Based on the example of traditional club VfL Bochum 1848 an online survey to analyze the influence of a Bundesliga match on different visitor target groups is conducted. The author discusses ways in which football clubs can change their multisensual approach to raise the profile of their club brand among football-affine target groups and increase loyalty to the club.

Thorsten Tham highlights the fundamental changes that have swept Germany’s footballing landscape in recent years and presents theory-based impact hypotheses about forms of stimulus that can raise the loyalty of football-affine target groups before, during and after the game. Based on the example of traditional club VfL Bochum 1848 an online survey to analyze the influence of a Bundesliga match on different visitor target groups is conducted. The author discusses ways in which football clubs can change their multisensual approach to raise the profile of their club brand among football-affine target groups and increase loyalty to the club.