Justin Drushal Professor Fuentes English 1202 4/7/2014 Sports Fans in the Modern Age Sports are very

important in todays society and they are important for one reason only: they entertain the fans. The fans are actually the driving force behind everything that happens in the sporting world. Whether it be rule changes or changes to the teams themselves, the fans influence even extends to the most personal of happenings in the different sports played around the world. Fans are extremely diverse because sports also vary immensely from place to place. You have sports that can be enjoyed by all people and are enjoyed by all people like the sport of soccer, or futbol in most other countries. There are some sports that are primarily enjoyed in other countries, or sports that are only watched and played by people of a higher social class. Curling is a sport mainly watched and played in Canada. Sports like croquet and polo which have historically only been played by higher class individuals. Even with the amazing amount of diversity in sports, all sports fans have several things in common. They all cheer for specific teams and they all act in pretty much the same ways. In my paper I will be focusing on the different types of fans and what drives them to act the way they do. I want to know what keeps diehard fans cheering for their teams day in and day out. I want to know how some people can stay loyal to teams that arent very successful yet have large fan bases and some of the most loyal fans. I will try and figure out how bandwagon fans and fair weather fans choose which teams to cheer for and how their preference changes what is
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popular and unpopular in the sporting world. All in all I want to understand the mind of a sports fan. Bandwagon and fair weather fans are going to be the main focus of this inquiry paper. I have been an avid sports fan since before I can remember. Unfortunately for me, I have been a Tampa Bay sports fan since before I can remember. All of Tampa Bays sport franchises are notorious for not being very successful teams. Currently the only Tampa Bay team doing well was last years Tampa Bay Rays and this years Tampa Bay Lightning. Although Im more of a Lightning fan now than I was in the past, Im still a giant Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. Now the Buccaneers have had their fair share of terrible seasons, and by fair share, I mean all but one season: their 2003 Super Bowl winning season. I was very little when they actually won the Super Bowl but I do remember a few things. I knew that all of the loyalty and trust that my father had put into the team was finally rewarded with a successful season. Thats when I first noticed fair weather fans. After that win, the Buccaneers are entitled to a few things, one of those things being the Super Bowl Parade through the city of Tampa Bay. An estimated 100,000 people showed up for the parade in downtown Tampa (Associated Press). Before that Super Bowl win, most of those people had never even been to, let alone watched, a single game. Of course they wanted to come out and support their team once they had actually won the super bowl, but they had never showed their support at any other time during the season. Bandwagon fans are almost the same thing as fair weather fans except for the key component of not having any affiliation with a team or city whatsoever. I personally hate them more than fair weather fans. But they are not a new thing in the sporting world. There are several examples of bandwagon fans throughout history. After every major win for a franchise, they
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have an immediate growth in general ticket sales, season ticket sales, and merchandise sales since. This can be seen not just in football, but in all sports around the world. In most sports there is something that the teams are playing towards. Whether it be the elusive Stanley Cup in the NHL, or the Super Bowl Rings in the NFL, or even the Championship in the NBA, every team wants to win their respective prize. Once a team achieves this, several things can change and have changed for a few teams recently. Lets take the Miami Heat for example. It has almost become popular in this day and age in the NBA to hate the Miami Heat. But they still have one of the biggest fan bases in the NBA. After they acquired NBA star Lebron James, their average home game attendance rose from fifteenth in the NBA to fifth in the NBA. Also their away game attendance rose from fourth in the NBA all the way to the coveted number 1 spot for away attendance. The Miami Heats overall attendance rose from eleventh in the NBA to the second spot (Dorish). And the rise in attendance can be attributed to their quickly rising success with other players such as Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. As you can see, that is a prime example of a teams success directly affecting several aspects of a franchise. Bandwagon fans are to thank for this. Without their newly found pride in their team and also newly found support, the Miami Heat wouldnt be the most iconic team in the NBA. The same can be seen in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. Although something with the Blackhawks is very different. Unlike the Miami Heat who sprouted out of nowhere after acquiring a super star player, the Chicago Blackhawks are an original six team. Which means they were there when the NHL was started and have been a power house ever since. However, since acquiring two young super star players and having several consecutive successful seasons, they have become the most popular team in the NHL. Their average attendance per game jumped
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by about 20% from their 2008 season to their 2009 season. But unlike a team other teams that rise and fade from the spotlight, they have stayed one of the most popular teams in the NHL for 5 years now and they are still a team that in always successful. Just this year they ranked number 1 in regular season attendance. I believe this is due in part to their extremely loyal fan base. Although they have gained fans since their two most recent Stanley Cup wins, they have had a large and proud fan base since the start of the franchise. I think that with a fan base as deep and loyal as theirs, any team can be successful. All sports leagues here in the USA and all around the world are constantly evolving creatures. Whats popular today might not be popular in a week or two. Trends in popular culture happen the exact same way in sports culture. Team rise and fall from popularity just as they rise and fall from greatness between seasons. And along with those rises and falls, some fans follow the next trend, and some stay right where they feel content. Recently in the NFL the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl in 2013. During their Super Bowl parade there were reportedly 700,000 people present but it was later found that those numbers were falsified and that there is no way that that many people could have been fit into the streets. So the actual number of parade participants is estimated at 500,000 which is still the biggest outdoor gathering in citys history (Lacitis). And this isnt including the some 300,000 people who were watching it live on TV. Those numbers were rounded up to about a total of 1 million people watching this super bowl parade. Which is something that is truly interesting considering that Seattle has been in the middle of the pack for attendance in the league. Every year they have constantly pulled in about 500,000 fans into their stadiums home and away but seemed to have doubled those numbers while reveling in success. The bandwagon fans have made another appearance on the sports stage and again at the highest levels of success. They
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latch on to teams that are doing well and feel part of a team that is dominant for the short run. Unlike some other bandwagon fans, they will probably move on very shortly seeing that the Seattle Seahawks have little or no chance to repeat themselves as Super Bowl Champions. College sports are a whole different breed of sports. Unlike professional sports where allegiances are usually selected or inherited, fans of college teams usually have a strong sense of loyalty for that school. It could be because they are an alumni of a school, maybe they attend the school in question, or maybe they even have a kid that goes there. But college fans are 10 times crazier than professional sports fans because, its college. Dont think that just because were talking about college sports, that there is no sign of bandwagon and fair weather fans. They are everywhere. Polls state that NCAA Basketball is quickly becoming the most watched NCAA sport, but it is still in tough competition with NCAA Football. College Football has a large amount of passionate fans that love the game and the people who represent their schools in those games. And unlike professional sports, most Universities and Colleges have deep routed history and a long standing tradition of loyal fans. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide have been a power house in the NCAA in all sports. But mainly football. They have been winning championships long before me or my father were ever born. Their first NCAA Football National Championship was won in 1925 against the University of Washington. They just recently beat the Georgia Bulldogs to win the 2012 NCAA National Championship. While they have always had high attendance ratings for their games, we havent seen that big of a rise or fall in attendance over the past 20 years or so, which is a very long time in the ever changing sporting world. It is a dynasty that will probably remain a powerhouse for days to come, and one that will not lose their status in the near future.

But even a team as respected as the Alabama Crimson Tide can have their reputation tarnished by the appearance of bandwagon and fair weather fans. This surge of fans is very different in the traditional way of increasing ticket sales and game attendance. Social Media plays a pivotal role in the support of your team. On Twitter every day you can get minute by minute updates of games and the latest scores from around the sporting world. And it is another way that a fan can show their loyalties and appreciations through social media. But it is also another way for bandwagon fans to leech off of popular culture and try to feel part of that teams community. After the Crimson Tides National Championship win, they were trending on twitter which is to be expected. But 3.2 million tweets is a lot more than anyone would ever expect to be tweeted about their performance. And after their crushing win against Tennessee, their popular catch phrase #HeyVols was trending as well. The trash talk that happens online doesnt reflect anything on the actual teams part, but I know from a fans point of view that it can negatively affect the way that others view your team. So in conclusion, all fans are different. You can be a fan that is undyingly loyal to your team and all of its players day in and day out. And then there is the worst of the worst. The bandwagon fans that choose which teams the support like they choose a different outfit every morning. They show not one ounce of loyalty and they can hurt a teams reputation. Even the most respected teams in all of the sporting world can fall victim to the plague that is bandwagon and fair weather fans. But we should be celebrating fans instead of scrutinizing them. They are what makes sports really fun and they are the driving force behind everything the leagues and players do. They are a vital part of a sports team and I consider myself a vital part of every team

that I am a fan of. We as sports fans put our dreams and aspirations into a team, and reap the rewards just as the teams and players would. We are the 12th man.

Works Cited Dorish, Joe. How did LeBron James Affect Miami Heats Attendance. Fans Look. Yahoo Sports. 25 Oct. 2011. Lacitis, Erik. 700,000 at Seahawks Parade? Doesnt Add Up Scientists Say The Seattle Times. 28 Apr. 2014. Parade of Champions. Associated Press. 28 Jan. 2003