ENG Assignment 4 Types of Sports Fans PDF

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ENG 255 Assignment 4 Types of Sports Fans Essay...

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1 Types of Sports Fans The idea of spectating a sport can be dated all the way back to the Roman era when gladiators fought in the Coliseum for the public to watch. As gruesome as it was, combat fighting was considered a sport and the general public spectating could be considered fans. Today, sports would not be the same without its fans. Spectating sports is a time-honoured tradition, where a group of people gather together to cheer and show support for their favourite players and/or teams. When you think of a sports team, you often think of the athletes, coaches and mascots. But it can be argued that sports fans are one of the most important parts of a sports team. They can play a huge role in the teams’ success by boosting the morale of the team, and can also be a source of entertainment themselves. Vice versa, a sports team can give fans a sense of community through the shared identity. Depending on the sport and the level of support, different traditions and customs are implemented during a sporting event. For example, painting your face, wearing a ridiculous costume, or just turning on the television to watch the game at home with a beer in hand. However, not every fan shows the same level of support for their team. In every sport, a fan’s personal investment in a team can be categorized by three types: a super fan, a casual viewer, and a bandwagoner.

A super-fan can be defined as an individual who is the most passionate and enthusiastic about their favourite sports team or player. A super-fan typically prioritizes their team above all things in their life. They schedule their life around the game schedule of their favourite team. They may also be season ticket holders who are devoted to attending every single game. You may see them decked out head-to-toe in their favourite sports teams’ apparel, quoting statistics about players, or cheering at the top of their lungs. One of the most notable Canadian super-fans

2 is Nav Bhatia. He is a businessman who is best known as the Toronto Raptors’ super-fan and has attended every single home game since the team started playing back in 1995 (Suhasini et al.) Super-fans like Bhatia are devoted and passionate about the sport and their favourite team. These super-fans sometimes draw attention to themselves at games because they can be so outrageously invested in their team to the point that reality escapes them. In an article written by marketing professors, Edson Coutinho da Silva and Alexandre Luzzi Las Casas, “Sport Fans as Consumers: an Approach to Sport Marketing”, they discuss the role of sports fanatics in determining how to market the team. Since these super-fans are not only emotionally but financially invested in their team, sports marketers can determine how much to charge fans for things such as event tickets, sports memorabilia, or tv subscriptions (da Silva and Las Casas). This is what separates superfans from every other fan. Super-fans will support their team through the tough seasons and will continue to pay to be at every game. That being said, the financial cost to be a super-fan and having the luxury of time to attend all games can place a heavy burden on fans. Thus, being a casual viewer or fan may be better suited to balance everyday life and sports. A casual fan can be defined as a fan that is not particularly invested in the sports fandom but knows enough to enjoy watching the games. A casual fan is one of the more common types of fans in our society. They may know the rules of the game but may not know all the names of the players of the team or even a whole lot about the history of the team. A casual fan does not support just any team though, but a team in which they have an attachment too. It could be that the team a casual fan supports is either the hometown team, the team with their favourite player, or the team the whole family supports. Unlike super-fans, casual fans do not typically plan their schedules around their favourite team’s games. They may not even watch all the games religiously but they do watch the bigger games or even the highlights just to get a quick update

3 on how their team is doing. On the contrary, causal fans might attend a few games but more so for the social experience rather than to just support their team. Casual fans are not typically as emotionally involved as super-fans and their moods are not dependent on their team’s wins or losses. These fans may have a more laid-back style of dedication and support for their team. A third type of sports fan is a bandwagoner. These fans are defined as individuals who only support a particular team when they are winning games, doing well, or are gaining popularity in the public eye. These types of fans typically only start watching games when it is time for the playoffs or a championship game, or when their favourite player gets traded to a new team. For example, in the late 90s, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ legendary player Mario Lemieux announced his first retirement and the team was left to file for bankruptcy. When Sidney Crosby was drafted in 2005, things started to turn around for the franchise and “rejuvenated the fanbase” (Nixon). Attendance at the Civic Arena almost quadrupled from 4,000 to 15,804 people, almost selling out the arena (Sapunka). It is safe to say that it is easy to support a team when they are winning and it is easy to support a team that has arguably the greatest hockey player of all time. The question is: where was all this support when the team was losing? This is what sets apart bandwagon fans from super-fans. To a certain extent there is some animosity between super-fans and bandwagon fans. A study conducted by Smart et al., revealed that “92% of participants expressed negative feelings towards fair-weathered fans” (Smart et al.) These participants felt that these fans “had not proven their fandom sincerely” and thus ruining the reputation of the fandom (Smart et al.). Overall, there are many different factors that can influence what type of sport fan a person can be such as: financial status, social status, and time. The type of fan you are should not deter you from enjoying the sport, but it should encourage and promote healthy relationships and

4 create social and cultural bonds with people. Regardless of what type of fan you are, whether it be a super-fan, casual fan, or bandwagon fan, it is important to note the sense of community, identity and belonging that individuals may feel when difference are put aside for the support of your favourite team. It can be concluded that fans play a huge role in sports fandom, both emotionally and financially.

Works Cited

Da Silva, Edson Coutinho, and Alexnadre Luzzi Las Casas. “Sport Fan as Consumers: an Approach to Sport Marketing.” British Journal of Marketing Studies, vol. 5, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 36–48.

Nixon, Stephen. “Lemieux or Crosby - Who's Had the Biggest Impact on the Penguins?” The Hockey Writers, 13 Aug. 2020, thehockeywriters.com/lemieux-or-crosby-whos-had-thebiggest-impact-on-the-pittsburgh-penguins/.

Sapunka, Jason. “NHL's 5 Most Obvious Bandwagons.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/781163-nhls-5-most-obvious-bandwagons.

Smart, Ryan, Chen, Steve S., and Henderson, Kenneth V. “Characteristics and Motivations of Die-Hard Sports Fans.” Journal of Applied Marketing Theory, vol.6 .no.1, Dec. 2015, pp. 60-65.

Suhasini, Gloria, et al. “Nav Bhatia .” Canadian Immigrant, 2018, canadianimmigrant.ca/canadas-top-25-immigrants/canadas-top-25-immigrants-2018/navbhatia....