Purpose This paper discusses whether subcultural activism can play a role in the delegitimation of mainstream markets. Methodology/approach The authors conducted a content analysis of press articles on the subject using FactivaTM database and searching the three most read newspapers in Brazil (Ertimur & Coskuner-Balli, 2015; Humphreys, 2010a, 2010b). Data was collected both retrospectively and concurrently. Analysis used open and theoretical coding, moving up from the emic meanings extracted from the texts to an etic account of the phenomena (Cherrier, H., & Murray, J. B. (2007). Reflexive dispossession and the self: Constructing a processual theory of identity. Consumption Markets & Culture , 10(1), 1–29; Thompson, C. J. (1997). Interpreting consumers: A hermeneutical framework for deriving marketing insights from the texts of consumers’ consumption stories. Journal of Marketing Research , 34(4), 438–455; Thompson, C. J., & Haytko, D. L. (1997). Speaking of fashion: Consumers’ uses of fashion discourses and the appropriation of countervailing cultural meanings. Journal of Consumer Research , 24(1), 15–42.). Findings The authors seek to explain in what way the relationship that Brazilians had with the 2014 FIFA World Cup reflects how the soccer industry has entered a delegitimation process. Research limitations/implications We sustain that regulatory legitimacy is less relevant than normative, cognitive, and pragmatic legitimacy in the context of an evolving society. In fact, further studying the long-term consequences of this evolution in the market-system would shed light on whether or not social movements can have a lasting impact on society (Zizek, 2014). Originality/value We contribute to the literature on market systems by studying an often-neglected aspect of market systems literature, the delegitimation of a mainstream market.
