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The sports fandom refers to the community of fans sharing interests in

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

. Emerging as a significant cultural phenomenon in the late 19th century, the sports fandom has evolved alongside the

commercialization Commercialisation or commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into e ...

and

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

of sports, shaping modern entertainment and social identities. Fans participate in various ways, including attending live events, watching broadcasts, engaging in online discussions, and forming dedicated communities around specific sports or teams. While historically associated with the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, sports fandom has become widespread across different

social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...

es, with factors such as media accessibility and the rising costs of live attendance influencing participation patterns. The nature of sports fandom varies across regions and sports disciplines, encompassing both team-based sports, such as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and individual sports, such as

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Dedicated often exhibit emotional investment in their teams' successes and failures.

History

The sports fandom, emerging in the late 19th century as a popular pastime for the

, and gaining much popularity in the 20th century, has become an important modern

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

. It has seen a number of changes; for example, some fan activities have emerged and others have disappeared; in the last few decades, the Internet has significantly affected how people consume and participate in various means of entertainment, such as sports. Over time, sport fandom has also become more common for the

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

, and more affected by the

commodification Commodification is the process of transforming inalienable, free, or gifted things (objects, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals) into commodities, or objects for sale.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trade Stati ...

of sports. Due to the increased costs of participating in sport events in person, as a spectator, in recent decades, middle class members have become dominant in the context of physical sport spectatorship. For example, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, historically,

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

used to be much more popular than they are now;

, while still popular, has lost much of its former popularity to

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, while new popular sports are emerging (such as

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

). The success or failure of various sports have been tied to various factors, such as

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

as well as resourcefulness and activities of

sports organizations Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

. Scholars have studied the sport fandom since c. 1980s.

Characteristics

The specific sport fandoms can significantly differ between different countries. The most common sport fandoms are those related to major

team sport A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a s ...

s, such as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

, although

individual sports An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or ...

(such as

cycle sport Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycli ...

s) also have significant fan bases. Some sport fandoms are mostly regional, as some sports can be very popular in one region but mostly unknown in others; such regional fandoms involve those for

(in the USA),

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

(in Canada) and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

(in countries of the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

). In the 2010s, over 8,000 different sport disciplines have been identified, and each could be said to have its own fandom. Sport fandom is generally understood to pertain to activities requiring significant

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of Outline of sports, sports, occupations, and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, modera ...

; this however can blur when considering related hobbies, such as

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, or more recently, the concepts of

fantasy sport A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete ba ...

and

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

. Sport fandom is increasingly affected by the

and

of sports, with numerous products designed for sports fans, from merchandise (sport-themed apparels,

memorabilia A souvenir (French language, French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memory, memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collecte ...

, and like) to services (such as sport bars, themed events like sport-themed weddings, and others).

Sports fans

A (also supporter) can be an enthusiast for a particular athlete, team, sport, or all of organized sports as a whole. Sports fans often attend sporting events in

stadiums A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

, in sports bars, or watch them at home, and follow news through newspapers, websites, and social media. Most fans have an emotional attachment to, and appreciation for, their favorite teams and players; less common is the more general attachment and appreciation to the entire type of sport. The mentality of the sports fan is often such that they will experience a game, or event while living vicariously through players or teams whom the fan favors. One of the differences between sports fans and fans of other types of activities (such as fans of various media) is the sport-related focus on winning, losing, and uncertainty of outcomes. Many fans participate in face to face events with other fans, most can be seen as being a part of an

imagined community An imagined community is a concept developed by Benedict Anderson in his 1983 book '' Imagined Communities'' to analyze nationalism. Anderson depicts a nation as a socially-constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves a ...

, perceiving themselves as sports fans. Sports fans vary in how important their hobby is to their lives. One can consider themselves a sports fan despite never having played said sport (and most sports fans are not actively playing their favorite sports), having witnessed a professional sporting event, or having connected with other sports fans. The most common activity of a sports fan is watching sports on

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. The most dedicated sports fans have extensive knowledge about their sports, and can even develop careers in fields such as

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

s or sports writers, or can be involved in managing sports teams, either professionally or through mobilization in activities such as those designed to change (or prevent the change) in the ownership of the team. Scholars have created a number of differing and sometimes contradictory typologies of sport fans. The majority of sports fans are male. Working class members are more likely to be fans of the most popular sports, while

and

members are more likely to be fans of less popular ones. Some sports fans engage in violence (such as

sports riot A sports riot is a riot that occurs during or after sporting events. Sports riots occur worldwide. Most riots are known to occur after the event is done, but some have been during the game (see football hooliganism). While association football is ...

football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviors perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism typically involves ...

References

{{Supporter Culture

History

Characteristics

Sports fans

See also

References