Abstract
Professional soccer in the United States continues to grow in popularity. This provides opportunities for professional soccer teams to expand revenues through enhanced fan consumption of goods and services of which teams derive direct financial benefit. The primary purpose of this study is to examine how fan attendance at team special events and player appearances (subsequently referenced as fan-player bonding) impacts fan consumption. The results indicate that both special events and fan-player bonding independently have a positive impact on merchandise sales and media viewership, but do not impact game attendance. The moderating impact of special event attendance and fan-player bonding is also not supported. The results of this study provide insights that can help fan consumption grow within the professional U.S. soccer industry.