Al Siyabi Issam, Jaffry Zakaria, Omar Firdaus Mohd Said, Mohd Shariman Shafie, Eko Purnomo
Sports teams use social media to boost fan loyalty and competitiveness. Brands and cus-tomers use social media for various reasons. Football fans' social media activity and whether age and club position (first or second division) are statistically significant varia-bles will be examined in this study. Using a descriptive quantitative design, data were col-lected from 939 followers of 50 Omani football clubs across Twitter, Facebook, and Insta-gram. Fan engagement was analyzed through the Consumers’ Online Brand-Related Ac-tivities (COBRA) framework, which includes consumption, contribution, and creation ac-tivities. The results revealed that consumption activities dominated fan behavior (M = 4.71, SD = 1.54), followed by contribution (M = 3.92, SD = 1.53) and creation (M = 3.18, SD = 1.63). The most frequent activity was “watching videos posted by the sports club” (M = 5.00, SD = 1.94). Statistical analysis using ANOVA indicated no significant differences in engage-ment levels across age groups or between first and second division clubs (p > 0.05), sug-gesting a consistent engagement pattern among fans. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s α = 0.95) confirmed strong internal consistency of the instrument. These find-ings demonstrate that Omani football fans primarily act as passive consumers rather than active contributors or creators. Therefore, sports clubs should prioritize visual and video-based content to enhance engagement. The study validates the COBRA model in the Omani sports context and provides practical insights for developing effective, inclusive social media strategies. © 2025 by the authors.
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Faculty of Sports Science and Coaching, Perak, Malaysia; Universiti Teknologi MARA, Faculty of Sport Science & Recreation, Seremban Campus, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia; Universitas Negeri Padang, Faculty of Sports Science, Padang, Indonesia
