Female Fandom (Lecture)

Ireti Amojo, Sunniva Ferri

Female fandom is far more than enthusiasm for sport, music, or popular culture. Fan cultures create communities, shape identities, and can become a driving force for visibility, participation, and social change. In their joint lecture, Dr Ireti Amojo and Sunniva Ferri explore the potential of fan cultures from a female and FLINTA* perspective, asking how communities, role models and new narratives emerge.

Dr Ireti Amojo moves between multiple worlds. As a former German international basketball player with 21 appearances for the national team and a long-standing television expert on the sport, she knows the dynamics of elite competition first-hand. Since March 2026, the Berlin-based sports executive has served as Managing Director of the Women’s Basketball Bundesliga and, in the year of the home World Cup, is pursuing ambitious plans for the continued development of women’s basketball. Alongside this, she has long been involved in grassroots movements and Berlin’s FLINTA* community, with a particular focus on basketball.

Sunniva Ferri works as a communications strategist and project manager at the intersection of sport, sustainability, and social impact. A former Bundesliga and youth international player, she brings a deep understanding of both the challenges and the potential of women’s sport. Today, she works with WNBA players Satou Sabally and Nyara Sabally, among others, and advocates for greater visibility and sustainable structures within women’s basketball.

Together, Dr Ireti Amojo and Sunniva Ferri will discuss how female fandom creates new forms of belonging, the role that social media and communities play in increasing the visibility of women athletes, and why fans are a crucial force in shaping the future of women’s and FLINTA* sport. At the heart of the conversation is the question of how enthusiasm, identification, and collective support can contribute to cultural and social change.