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Sports Fandom
At first glance the world of sports looks simplistic and unencumbered. Regardless of the sport in question the fans come, they watch the sport take place and then they leave. It is only when one takes a closer look that the complicated underpinnings of sports fan behavior becomes evident. Sports fans support their teams in many ways. They purchase millions of dollars of merchandise each year, they attend games and cheer their teams on, and they remain loyal in the face of losing seasons. Individually most sports fans are law abiding, calm and reasonable members of society, but when they get into a group, or they attend a sport events they often become loud and behave in ways that they never behave elsewhere. Sports fans have caused injury to other fans, to players and to the other team. They have rushed onto the field at games, as well as been thrown out of stadiums before they start. Sports fans, who otherwise dress and act conservatively will paint their entire bodies in the colors of their favorite sports team and make public spectacles of themselves. The psychological pay back that is provided for the actions of sports fans feeds the continued behavior. Sports fans are consumers. The psychological impact of their behavior as individuals and as a group continues to drive the sports fan industry.
THE FAN PHENOMENON
Sports fans are fiercely loyal to the team or athlete of their choice. They will ride out season after season of losing scores, and still pack the stands and cheer them on each game. Sports fans whose team wins display a similar loyalty. The sports fan actions as a group cause a type of electricity among the group members...
The safety in numbers mindset seems to take over and the electricity that is generated in the group by its actions and the teams actions gets amplified. The individuals who are sports fans get many things out of being a sports fan. One of the things that they get from it according to experts is the feeling of belonging to something larger than themselves (Hawkins pg 35). The group cheers in tandem, purchases team merchandise, discusses the team season and argues with the fans of other teams about who has the better team or athlete. All of these activities provide the sport fan with a feeling that he or she is not alone, and is the member of a large and loyal group. It provides a type of commodore for them to latch onto.
Once you get together in a group and you are practising something you all take very seriously, it generates a kind of electricity," he says. "That gets amplified, the group reaffirms its solidarity and out of that they get this sense of belonging to something bigger than they are as individuals (Hawkins pg 35)... "
When sports fanaticism remains innocent in its endeavors it allows the fan to have a feeling of well being.
It's why Henry Williams has stuck by the unglamorous Upper Hutt rugby team for 54 years. Williams, 74, hasn't missed a game. He bikes to Maidstone Park every Saturday or takes the bus to away fixtures (Hawkins pg 35)."
Many of the actions of sports fans are harmless and provide the fan with an outlet for the need to belong and be a part of a group, but there are times that the behavior of sports fans becomes less than stellar. Sports…
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