Sports are more than just a game
Have you ever developed a bond with an object or activity at an early age that you believe is inseparable to the point where you cannot live on this earth without it? If the answer is yes, I am sure that you would be willing to say that this certain object or activity has affected your life in a big way, and it has become a part of who you are. Some people are passionate about music, entertainment, or traveling, while some are passionate about sports. The difference between sports fans and their level of passion compared to those other common interests mentioned is how they express it and how much more it truly means to them as a collective group. Sports are more than “just a game” because of the impact that they have on the fans. Sports teams provide fans with an identity, a sense of belonging and pure joy in a way that few things on earth can.
Sports are viewed by some as nothing more than just a game. Those same people believe that sports fans take things too seriously and need to just grow up since what takes place on the field, court, or ice is not a big deal. “They view them as beer-drinking couch potatoes possessing a pathological obsession with a trivial and socially disruptive activity” (Wann, 2018). Like many aspects of life, with the good comes the bad, and sports and their fans are no exception. For all the goodness and joy that sports bring, they can also bring some negatives. In the heat of the moment, fans can get caught up in acts they would not typically partake in. This includes fans fighting each other, throwing objects and/or liquids at the athletes, verbal abuse by fans, and chaos caused by fans when their team loses or wins a championship game. Examples of each form of inappropriate fan behavior include a Denver Nuggets fan pushing NBA player, Russel Westbrook and a Utah Jazz fan verbally abusing Westbrook; New York Yankees fans
dumping beer on Red Sox pitcher, at the time, Craig Kimbrel; and Vancouver Canucks fans causing riots after their team lost in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.
These are some of the irrational acts that give sports fans a bad reputation, yet the fans who partake in these inappropriate acts are simply just bad apples that misrepresent the greater population of well-behaved and genuine sports fans. There is no denying that there are plenty of irresponsible fans that do not know how properly enjoy sporting events, but it is a very small percentage. The occasional situation involving misconduct by one irresponsible sports fan should not take away from all of the other good fans that take in the game the right way and are impacted in a positive light. Another reason some people believe this, is because they do not think that sports have any real-world impact. They think that because of this, they are not important, and people should not be so passionate about them and should instead focus their energy on more significant matters. This could not be further from the truth though, considering how many positives that this “game” provides the fans with.
Sports have a profound impact on these fans in a multitude of positive ways that far exceed the negatives that come with the territory. Sports fans are given a whole new identity that they can live by. When people think of identity, they typically picture a person’s physical qualities or their personality, not what team a person associates themselves with. Yet these people identify themselves this way because of the deep connection they have built with their team. “Research shows similarities between a fan’s identification with a sports team and how people identify with their nationality, ethnicity, even gender” (Wang, 2006). A sports fan can be so emotionally attached to a team that their association with a team becomes not only their reputation, but their identity as a whole.
The same people that look at sports as nothing more than “just a game” would argue that this is ridiculous. They believe that nobody should actually identify as a sports fan because it is impossible to identify as. To them, being a fan who is that passionate about sports or a particular team is a complex concept that they simply cannot grasp. On the contrary, it is rather simple. People can identify as whoever they want because what makes up one’s identity is how they choose to live their life and how they are widely recognized by others. It is no different than identifying as an avid traveler or baker. A person’s identity is reflective of their passions and goals in life. At the end of the day, everyone has an identity, and for some just it happens to be sports.
“Team identification ‘is the extent to which a fan feels a psychological connection to a team and the team’s performances are viewed as self-relevant,’ says Daniel Wann, professor of psychology at Murray State University” (Wann, 2006). Studies conducted by a variety of researchers show that sports fans allocate so much time and energy into their team that over time it slowly molds their habits and it eventually becomes a large part of who they are and what they embody. Sports have the rare ability to make a typically quiet and antisocial person the loudest and most social person in the room in a matter of seconds. I myself am a good example of this in action, considering I am the type of person that has been described by some as “a man of few words,” yet when the topic has anything to do with sports my eyes light up and I can go on and on.
This identity that sports fans take on quickly becomes a new way of life. An example of this is sports fans of the country of Bulgaria who were examined to discover the impact that their national sports has on their people. “A sociological survey about national proud in the developed world demonstrates even further this notable connection between sport and Bulgarian national identity” (Ilycheva, 2005). Like all sports fans around the world, their identity is centered around their national sports teams. These people cannot imagine living without these teams because of all that they provide them with. It is clear that sports have a very powerful influence on the way that fans decide to go about living their lives. Another reason for this is because of the special way that sports and the teams involved can make a person feel.
Fans are provided with a unique sense of belonging through their teams and players. “In all, the study of sports is illuminating how audiences use mediated sports for personal fulfillment and for interpersonal and group connections” (Earnheardt). People who closely follow their favorite team on a daily basis slowly integrate themselves to the point where they feel they are actively apart of the actual team in a way. By attending all of the games to cheer them on, keeping track of each road game and the score, familiarizing yourself with all of the players and coaches, and much more, a fan begins to associate themselves with the team as if they are no different from the players themselves. When the dedicated fans wake up early to paint their faces, wear their team colors, and meet up with fellow fans outside the arena or stadium their team plays in, they are united as one with the team they support. Those fans feel at home the second they walk into the stadium they can call their second home. To them this is a special place where they can feel they are a part of something bigger than their regular everyday life and boring day job.
When they are there with thousands of other people dressed just like them and chanting together in unison, they are doing what they feel they are called to do. This setting and activity give sports fans a sense of purpose and washes away all the worries of everyday life in an instant. Even if just able to watch their team play on television, a fan experiences all of the same feelings and truly believes they are there right alongside their favorite athletes as they prepare to take on the opposing team. There is a science behind just how attached fans become to their team and players. “Similar studies since then have confirmed this relationship, while others suggest that the entire panoply of neurochemicals associated with athleticism, from dopamine to adrenaline to oxytocin, are triggered to a similar degree in both the players and fans during a game” (Barth, 2016).
In other words when a baseball player for example hits walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game for their team, the fan of that player feels very similar emotions and the pattern of the brain activity is very similar to that players at that moment in time. This rare feeling provides fans with a chance to live out their dreams through their favorite athletes in a way. Although it may at first glance, appear to be a stretch to say sports make a fan feel like they belong on the actual team, it is much more than rational for fans to feel this way than one would think.
There is a lot of good that comes from the sports played that goes well beyond contributing to the pure joy of the fans. Sports serve as an outlet for fans to sit down and enjoy watching their team compete. They allow fans to come together from all over the place with the same goal of cheering on their team and interacting with their favorite players. For many people it means the world to them to be able to escape all the despair and negativity that takes place in the world and just sit back and take it all in. After the horrible event of 9/11, the people of New York City came together and turned tears and sorrow into joy and smiles by watching the Yankees play. Something as simple as watching a baseball game seemed to let the fans know that everything was going to be okay and that better days were ahead. Sports have an incredible ability to brighten up someone’s day even during the worst of times.
Nowadays, in a time when the world is on high alert because of the deadly Coronavirus, there are no sports as a result of the virus. Leaving not only sports fans without the comfort sports provide, but everyone around the globe. There is no baseball, basketball, football, hockey, or any other sports to serve almost as a distraction to people during these difficult times. It is during times like these that the true value of sports is most obvious, even to those who typically would not consider themselves avid fans by any means. Whether people are willing to admit it or not, sports are one of the backbones that hold a lot of things within society together.
While it does a very good job of putting a smile on fans’ faces and gives them something to cheer for, it does wonders for the communities in which the teams are located. The teams drive in revenue through tickets sold, memorabilia purchased, and tourism from fans outside of the city. All of which contribute to the overall growth and prosperity of the cities that they are based in and the residents living there. A current example of this being in effect is the Chicago Cubs baseball team, who generates up to $600 million annually for the state of Illinois. Another is the Oakland Athletics who are looking to do the same with a new ballpark in Oakland. This park would help give people employment and create a large source of revenue that could go towards improving life in the city.
Another way that people benefit financially from the professional sport leagues is through the charitable donations that are made by the organizations themselves and even the athletes from within those organizations. This is done often naturally and occurs when a player is fined money for some sort of team violation or league violation. The league willingly chooses to put that money toward charities of their choice. The world of sports is always looking to give back in any way that they can. Another example of this in action is their cooperation with organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which allows children to live out their dreams of meeting their favorite players. The good that these professional sport leagues do goes so far beyond being “just a game” as some people would like to put it.
Sports have a large influence on something of great value to society and that is the nation’s youth. “They provide youth with structured sport and physical activity experiences that explicitly prioritize the development of personal and social life skills, along with the physical development more commonly associated with sport participation” (Hemphill, 2019). Organized sports promote values that young kids need to know in order to be successful in life beyond the field, court, or ice rink. Through these sports, kids are taught so much more than how to read a defense. While enjoying friendly competition the participants are molded into mature adults that can one day be contributive members of society. The values that I myself have learned through sports from an early age all the way through high school have taught me so much valuable information that I would never have been able to acquire without the experiences I had over the years.
With all of the good that the world of sports provides, both for the dedicated fans of the sport and the rest of the population as a whole, I find it hard to believe some people are unable to see the great impact that sports have on society. For the fans, sports provide people with an identity and a sense of belonging when nothing else quite can. For everyone else, sports improve local communities and the lives of those living there, they donate money to charitable organizations, and instill values in the youth that shape their development. All of these things positively impact millions, if not billions of people every single day and completely change so many peoples’ lives for the better, but sports are still nothing more than “just a game” though, right?
References
Hemphill, M. A., Gordon, B., & Wright, P. M. (2019). Sports as a passport to success: life skill integration in a positive youth development program. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 24(4), 390–401.Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/17408989.2019.1606901?needAccess=true
Ilycheva, M. (2005). “Faithful Until Death”: Sports Fans and Nationalist Discourse in Bulgarian Internet Forums. Polish Sociological Review, (151), 251–270. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/41274930
Wann, D.L., & James, J. D. (2018). Sport fans: The psychology and social impact of fandom. Taylor & Francis Group. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/lib/asulib-ebooks/reader.action?docID=5584248
Wang, S. (2006). Sports Complex: The Science Behind Fanatic Behavior. Association for Psychology Science. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/sports-complex-the-science-behind-fanatic-behavior
Barth, B. J. (2016). The Unique Neurology of the Sport’s Fan’s Brain. Nautilus. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-unique-neurology-of-the-sports-fans-brain
Earnheardt, A. C., Haridakis P. M., & Hugenberg B. S. (2011). Sports Fans, Identity, and Socialization: Exploring the Fandemonium. Lexington Books. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/lib/asulib-ebooks/reader.action?docID=889508&query=
