O Clube no século XXI e o fator “supporter”: estudos sobre poder, negócio e comunidade no futebol-espetáculo

Abstract

This thesis aims the study of men’s professional football clubs, considering that the persistent commodification of this activity has impacted in the supporters relations – affected by the process of “costumerisation” – with the sport institutions with which the identify – managed by sophisticated spectacle production companies. The 21st Century is marked by unprecedented ways of acquisition, management and instrumentalization of clubs by different types of owners, responsible for updating the processes of commodification, even more aggressive than the previous ones. Multiple interests, especially of a political nature, shaped a new order of clubs and leagues, way more guided by the achievement of global audience, in the wake of the deepening of modes of socialization through cyberspace – the “teletorcedores”. These projects resulted in conflicts and dissatisfactions in certain segments of supporters, whose reject these processes of “costumerisation”, challenge the property and demand a more important role in the decision-making process. Identified as “supporter”, in a way to connect this research to others studies dedicated to this same aim, this kind of active supporter commonly articulates in collective organizations to give greater visibility to their agendas, to prompt the action of other supporters, to intervene in the public agenda and to organize demonstrations in stadiums, on the streets and through the cyberspace. This research made a comparative effort, through the observation o supporters experiences in different countries, elaborating theoretical endeavors and seeking to find points of connection and distinction between the components of the research corpus. The opening chapters make the long path of historic resizing of football clubs throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, then dedicated to understanding the different stages of the transformation of the clubs in private companies and the different types of clubs resulting from this process. Hence, the thesis aims to understanding the changes in the ways in which supporters relate to their clubs. Chapters 4 and 5 are dedicated for theoretical reflections, collated by case studies in England, Germany, Portugal, Argentina and Chile. Lastly, Chapter 6 is dedicated to the investigation and commenting on the facts that occurred during the closing period of the research (first months of 2022), after the sanction of Law 14.193/2021, which related to the topics addressed in this thesis, in particular the mobilization of fans for the sale of the sociedades anônimas do futebol (football joint companies) of their clubs.