Diaspora marketing in sport: football shirts, belonging and nostalgia across borders

Purpose This study explains how international football shirt marketing campaigns can assemble material and immaterial elements to mobilize diasporic emotions, enchanting products as affective symbols of place for transnational audiences. Design/methodology/approach An instrumental case study of Palermo F.C.'s jersey marketing campaign was conducted. Data from promotional videos, press releases and social media was analyzed using abductive reflexive thematic analysis, informed by assemblage theory. Findings Findings demonstrate how the football shirt becomes an emotional interface for diasporic audiences, through which they live a simultaneous feeling of belonging and nostalgia to their homeland. The campaign addresses recent histories of human movement, to tap into profound and authentic emotions that resonate with experiences of migration of the audience. Research limitations/implications The study offers depth rather than generalizability. Future research should use interviews, focus groups and further consumer culture theory-informed approaches to broaden our understanding of diaspora marketing in sport. Practical implications Sport marketers targeting diasporic audiences should ground international campaigns in emotionally resonant cultural engagement, while ensuring that global campaigns do not overlook local efforts. Social implications Diaspora-oriented sport campaigns may support well-being by helping dispersed audiences cope with nostalgia, and feel connected to home across distance. Originality/value The study conceptualizes diasporic fans as affective transnational audiences and introduces authenticity of affect to explain how campaigns become authentic when audiences recognize their own emotions within them.