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Drew Kalil
Research Based Argument
First Year Writing
April 8, 2015
The Passion of Sports Fans
They cheer, they root, they cry, they swear, they watch, they sacrifice. If fans are
passionate, then sports fans are their crazy cousins. Fans are people who identify with an idea or
larger group. There are fans of gospel music, of video games and of the Republican party. What a
fan is a fan of, has not limits. So why are sports fans the most passionate? Well, unlike many
fandoms, sport fans will change their lives to follow their team. Now surely this cannot be the
only reason, right? When analyzing a sports fan, it is important to do it around a sporting event.
Before, during, and after a big game is when the psychology of a sports fan can most clearly be
observed.
The first place to look at a sports fan is not their actions but the reason why they are
sports fans in the first place. Dev Ashish, a writer for the popular sports news and opinion
website sites five main reason: Identity, Escapism, Eustress, Sense of Belonging and Self-Esteem
(Ashish, Sports Fan Psychology: It's More Than Just a Game). Each one of his reasons makes
sense. When sports fans follow their favorite team, they are identifying themselves with a group
of people who also follow the team. As they watch, their minds become fixated on the game and
as a result, sports fans escape from the outside world. Watching sports has also been shown to
cause psychological changes in the brain, Ashish brings up, A study in Georgia has shown, for
instance, that testosterone levels in male fans rise markedly after a victory and drop just as
sharply after a defeat, (Ashish, Sports Fan Psychology: It's More Than Just a Game). When

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fans attend games and watch together in a group environment, they develop a sense of belonging
because they are with a group of like-minded individuals. At an event, things that usually divide
people are forgotten. There is a good chance that the person who worked extra hours at his part
time job for tickets is sitting next to the doctor with season tickets. Money is no longer a barrier
between these two individuals because of their love for the their favorite team. And finally,
sports fans view their favorite teams as an extension of themselves, so when their team wins,
their self-esteem increases.
So now that the reasons of sports fandom have been established, the actions can be
analyzed. Before any big game, many hardcore sports fans participate in pre-game rituals. One
popular ritual of the Chicago Blackhawks fans is to cheer throughout the entire national anthem.
This ritual started in 1985 when energized Blackhawk fans entered the stadium with the intention
of reviving the teams chance to win the series. Although the blackhawks ended up losing the
series, the tradition lives on today.
Another popular pre-game activity, especially for football, is tailgating. Tailgating, is
more or less a party to celebrate the game that is about to occur. Fans will eat cook-out and
consume many alcoholic beverages before entering the game. Many fans feel that this is
necessary to avoid paying for the high priced amenities inside the venue. This pre-game activity,
has a strong effect on the behavior of the fans during the game, as many of them will become
intoxicated and dysfunctional fans.
However, most fans do not go to games, but instead they watch the games at home. As a
result, the most popular pre-game activity by far is watching the pre-game show. According to
Zap2it, a website that measure the amount of people viewing a TV program, 72.7 million people
watched the pre-game show for the 2015 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and

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Seattle Seahawks. Fans enjoy watching the pre-game show because it provides insights about the
team they follow as well as explain what their team has to do to be successful in the game. This
information connects the fan with the team and also gives fans something to look for in the
performance of their favorite team.
During the game, fans begin to act differently than they do during their pre-game
activities. There are two types of fans, functional fans and dysfunctional fans. Daniel Wann and
Kirk Wakefield are credited with this distinction(Wakefield and Wann, An Examination of
Dysfunctional Sport Fans: Method of Classification and Relationships with Problem Behaviors).
Basically a functional fan is a person who goes to the game or views a sporting event,
occasionally cheers when their team succeeds, does not jeer, consumes a little bit of food, and
keeps an overall level head. The dysfunctional fan is the opposite. Instead of being characterized
by level headedness, dysfunctional fans are characterized by being obnoxious, swearing,
drinking and complaining. These fans, are the ones who typically cause the problems at the
events or in group viewings.

This is the typical example of a dysfunctional sports fan that Wakefield and Wann
described in their research. It is apparent that these people are the loud obnoxious fans at the
game. There shirts off in the snowy conditions leads to the assumption that these four individuals

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are quite inebriated. Right now they appear to be ecstatic because the camera is pointed at them.
Based on their enthusiasm, it is also probable that the team they are rooting for is doing well,
however according to Wakefield and Wann, if their team starts to play poorly, these are the same
people who will quickly swear at officials and blame others. These types of fans are everywhere
at sporting events and at sports bars. A functional fan would be like one of the people on the ends
of the picture. They are dressed properly for the weather and are standing there and seeming to
be enjoying the game. The man on the left is cheering, but much more calmly than the other. The
guy on the right is also displaying proper etiquette. It is evident that he is indeed a fan by his
team hat.
Although the actions of the sports fans may be improper, the dysfunctional fans tend to
have the most impact on the actual games taking place. Frederick Grieve describes the effect of
fans on the game, specifically a college basketball game.
Fans may have an effect on the game by simply attending. Student-athletes
performance is different when there are people in the stands from when the seats are
empty. Part of this effect is through physiological arousal One of the few ways in
which sports fans can affect athletic performance is by distracting student-athletes. Often
fans attempt to distract student-athletes through a number of different activities. Some of
the more recent distractors seen at college basketball games include students jumping up
and down in different directions, the big head phenomenon where fans wave giant
heads of famous people at the players, and loudly singing songs during free throw
attempts. Obviously, if these behaviors take athletes attention away from the game,
performance can suffer. Thus, the ability to focus and ignore distractors during

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competition is a very important skill for student-athletes to develop. (Grieve, Sport
Fandom and the NCAA Athlete)
Based on the research done by Grieve, it can be assumed that the dysfunctional fans have
a greater effect on the game because of their characteristics. Being obnoxious will cause more
distractions for players than being polite. Another way fans can influence the game is by
cheering or jeering a call made by the referee. Although they are supposed to be impartial,
referees are impacted by the crowd when they make a call. In the National Basketball
Association, the away team is fifteen times more likely to be called for a travel than the home
team, while the home team is also four times more to win a call that involves the change of
possession (Moskowitz and Wortheim). These results are stunning, they show that being a
dysfunctional fan actually can influence a game. So in a way, the screaming jerk at the game is
somewhat justified in their actions.
The outcome of the game has a big impact on the mental state of sports fans. In a study
done by Boen, Vanbeselaere and Feys, they found that people disassociate with their favorite
team following a loss, and associate more following a win. Through measuring the hits on
various European league soccer teams websites, they found this trend. This corresponds with the
research done by Wann and Wakefield. They also found that students were much more likely to
wear school colors or school attire following a win in the football game the previous day.
This phenomena is referred to as BIRG, or basking in reflected glory. When a fan BIRGs,
they are riding in the wake of their teams success. They identify closer with the team so the fan
can feel like they too won. Susan Krausse, a professor at UMass Amherst, characterizes BIRGing
by fans feeling good after a victory, by fans wearing more team memorabilia and using words
such as, We won,when asked about the outcome of the game. Fans who actually attend

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games regularly display the social psychological phenomenon of disinhibition. They shout, yell,
stand up, cheer, and high five strangers all around them. Even people who are ordinarily reserved
and shy will explode in bursts of exhibitionism when surrounded by other people engaging in the
same unrestrained excitement, (Krausse, The Psychology of Sports Fans). She goes on to
discuss that when a team wins, they occasionally reinforce the superstitious acts that fans do
before and during the game. This is because sports fans feel like by doing their superstitious act,
they are in some way or another contributing to the victory.
However there has to be an opposite to BIRG, every team simply cannot win every game
they play. CORF, cutting off reflected failure, is the other end of the spectrum. When a fan
CORFs, they are dissociating themselves from the team. The logic is who wants to be friends
with a loser? Krausse describes CORFing as a depressed mood following a loss. In addition, she
notes that in defeat, fans say They lost, when they are asked about the outcome of the game.
This is a direct contrast to BIRGing and the dissociation is very apparent.
Another action of a CORFing fan is Blasting. In his thesis work on sports psychology,
Merritt Posten cites Cialdini when describing blasting.
Another way that fans can CORF is by "blasting". Blasting is a form of indirect
self enhancement used when self esteem is threatened. Cialdini and Richardson (1980)
found and illustrated this phenomena by showing how university undergraduates blasted
(criticized and degraded) the other universities when they received negative information
about their own school. "Therefore if we wish to look good to observers, one option
available to us would be to make those with whom we are negatively connected with look
bad: to publicly blast the opposition, (Cialdini et al. 1980). (Posten, Sports Fans:
BIRGing & CORFing)

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Making excuses and blasting is one of the most common activities for sports fans
following a loss. They are simply trying to explain how their favorite team could have failed
them.
The feelings felt during and after a game are easily manipulated by the score of the game.
Success brings joy and failure sorrow. But these are not the only factors. Alcohol consumption is
a tradition at almost every sporting event. Well not everyone is getting completely inebriated,
there is a large portion of people who will still consume alcohol. Many studies, including that of
Wann and Wakefield, have found that the most disruptive people are generally those who have
consumed alcohol. Following a devastating loss, there can be consequences for this. A crowd of
frustrated and intoxicated sports fans is never a good thing. Riots are a problem that sports fans
cause. Because of emotions, team identification and crowd mentality, it is very easy for a riot to
break out. "Identification with a team gives you a kind of social support network that provides a
buffer from things like anxiety, loneliness, and depression," Brian Handwerk said in his National
Geographic article about sports induced riot. "There's also evidence that people who have
established social support networks have some protection against physical illness. There are a
whole host of benefits," (Handwerk, The Psychology of Fan Mayhem). He goes onto say, "So if
we see someone throw a beer bottle and it draws cheers from our group members who we're
really identifying with at the time, we might be apt to match that behavior or up it," (Handwerk,
The Psychology of Fan Mayhem).
To test for the validity of the research done by the sources used, I took it upon myself to
interview my cousin Luke Hobson, an avid sports fan, in order to get a personal testimonial. To
profile Luke, he is favorite sports to watch are football and hockey and he always roots for the
Boston sports teams. Luke went on to say that he watched every New England Patriots game this

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past year and watched about half of the Boston Bruins games. When asked about his viewing
environments and habits Luke replied that he is always in a group environment, whether that be
at the actual game, at a friends house or at a sports bar. My favorite response in the interview was
when I asked Luke about how the score of the game affects his mood. He replied, Identical, I
would say. Every point we score makes me feel a little bit better, I live and die with them.
Remember when we watched the AFC divisional round a few months ago? I was hurt each time
the Patriots were down. The emotional rollercoaster of that game put me on was unreal. You
should have been glad you didnt see me during the super bowl. Oh God that was terrifying. His
response was right on line with what I was expecting based on my research.
Sports fans are passionate people. If it wasnt for their fandom, their actions would be
maniacal. None the less, sports are embedded into American culture so it is important to know
the psychology of their fans. Knowing how a fan thinks is an important step into comprehending
their actions. Though to outsiders, the actions of fans pre-game, during the game and postgame
may seen dramatic, their actions make logical sense. Fans follow teams to feel like they are part
of a greater community, they drink, swear and yell at officials because they only want the best for
their teams and they will either bask in the glory of victory or cut off ties with the team in defeat.
Knowing this information will help non-fans understand the livelihoods of the most passionate
fans.

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Works Cited

Ashish, Dev. "Sports Fan Psychology: It's More Than Just a Game." Bleacher Report.
N.p., 26 Aug. 2008. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
Bibel, Sarah. "Super Bowl XLIX Is Most-Watched Show in U.S. Television History
With 114.4 Million Viewers." TVbytheNumbers. Zap2it, 02 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Apr.
2015.
Boen, Filip, Norbert Vanbeselaere, and Jos Feys. "Behavioral Consequences of
Fluctuating Group Success: An Internet Study of Soccer-Team Fans." The Journal of
social psychology 142.6 (2002): 769-81. ProQuest. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
Grieve, Frederick G. "Sport Fandom and the NCAA Athlete." Association for Applied Sport
Psychology:. N.p., 31 July 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.

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Handwerk, Brian. "Sports Riots: The Psychology of Fan Mayhem." National
Geographic. National Geographic Society, 05 June 2005. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
"How Are You a Fan?" Telephone interview. 28 Mar. 2015.
Killion. "Controversy over Cheering - Is the Blackhawk Fans' Tradition
Disrespectful?" Second City Hockey. SB Nation, 17 Mar. 2009. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
Moskowitz, Tobias J., and L. Jon. Wertheim. Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences
behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won. New York: Crown Archetype,
2011. Print.
Posten, Merritt. "Sports Fans: BIRGing & CORFing." Sports Fans: BIRGing &
CORFing. N.p., Spring 1998. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Wakefield, Kirk L., and Daniel L. Wann. "An Examination of Dysfunctional Sport Fans: Method
of
Classification and Relationships with Problem Behaviors." Journal of Leisure
Research 38.2 (2006): 168-86. ProQuest. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

Whitbourne, Susan Krausse. "The Psychology of Sports Fans." Psychology Today. N.p., 30 Dec.
2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.