Sports fandom today often extends beyond the boundaries of stadiums and sports arenas, as online communities play a crucial role in connecting fans. In my master's thesis, I explored the role of online sports fan communities in providing social support. I was interested in which forms of social support appear on sports subreddits, how seeking social support is related to satisfaction with offline social support and emotional experiences of sports, and how activity on sports subreddits impacts satisfaction with the social support received there. The research was conducted through an online survey on the 1KA platform, which also provided demographic data and information about sports fandom. Data analysis was performed using factor analysis. The results indicated that sports subreddits primarily offer informational and emotional support, while instrumental support is less common. Satisfaction with offline social support is positively related to using sports subreddits for leisure and information-seeking, but negatively related to seeking help online and helping users with anxiety. Future research should focus on specific types of social support and individual sports subreddits, including those related to particular clubs, teams, or athletes.
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