اکبر جابری - Associate Professor in Sport Management, Department of Sport management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.

Purpose: The study aimed to develop the brand equity model of football clubs in the Iranian premier football league. We emphasized the partial role of identity distinction, attractiveness, and fan-team identification.Methodology: The research method was quantitative, correlational, and practical. The participants consisted of football fans in the Pro League of Iran, and a sample of ۴۵۰ fans was selected through random sampling in virtual pages attributed to chosen clubs. The research tool was a combination of standard questionnaires. Their content validity was verified using marketing experts' comments, and the structural validity was verified using confirmatory factor analysis. According to Cronbach's alpha equal ۰/۸۲, the questionnaire's reliability was confirmed. Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) by AMOS software has been applied to use the validity of the results.Finding: The results showed that identity distinction and attractiveness significantly and positively affected fan-team identification. Fan identification also had a substantial and positive impact on brand equity. The effect of identity distinction and identity attractiveness on fan-team identification and fan-team identification on brand equity demonstrated the importance of psychological and social elements in football club branding.Originality: Trying to make the identity of Iranian football clubs attractive and different can provide the necessary ground for the unity of the fans with the clubs and facilitate the branding by improving brand equity. This research can be one of the few studies conducted in the field of sports brands in Iran by combining identity distinction, identity attractiveness, fan-team identification, and brand equity as a comprehensive model.

Brand Equity, Branding, Identification, Identity attractiveness, Identity distinction, Sports brands