To leave or to stay (and what season tickets and club memberships have to do with it)? A qualitative study on the exit of German soccer supporters.

Résumé

INTRODUCTION: Fan loyalty is essential to the business model and marketing of professional soccer clubs. At the same time, clubs regularly face fan behavior such as the return of season tickets or cancellation of club memberships. From a sports marketing perspective, these behaviors are often interpreted as indicators of declining loyalty or even fan exit. However, such interpretations tend to oversimplify the underlying dynamics, as the observable behavior does not necessarily correspond to a complete withdrawal from the soccer club. This article examines the extent to which the return of season tickets and the cancellation of memberships at professional soccer clubs can be interpreted as indicators of fan exit, in a partial or total manner.METHODS: An online questionnaire was distributed through German professional soccer clubs and the social media platform . It specifically targeted people who had previously canceled their membership with their favorite club or given up their season ticket. A total of 981 people participated in the questionnaire between October 2025 and March 2026; of these, 198 provided comments on the topic, which were included in a qualitative thematic analysis.RESULTS: The results are presented separately, depending on whether they include participants' statements regarding memberships or season tickets. In addition to relevant status constellations, the section also describes various reasons for the cancellation of memberships or season tickets. In the case of canceled memberships, the reasons are largely limited to . In the case of canceled season tickets, a wider range of reasons is cited, ranging from and to and DISCUSSION: The analysis shows that neither the cancellation of memberships, nor the return of season tickets necessarily imply a total exit from the favorite club; however, these actions may be associated with impairments in the fan-club relationship and a partial exit. In this context, implications are discussed within a broader theoretical and management context. Furthermore, the study highlights its limitations and outlines avenues for future research.