1. Sports fandom has many definitions.
When I asked the participants how they defined sports fandom, I got a lot of different answers. Within these responses, there were certainly some common threads-- several of the participants mentioned wearing the team colours/logo, watching the games, being knowledgeable about sports, or talking about your team with others. But there were notable differences, too.
Some had very stringent definitions. For Jennifer 5, a "true fan" (her words) should have season tickets, be a lifelong fan, know the history of the team, have memorabilia, and feel devastated when their team loses. But for Lindsay, anyone could be a fan if they felt like they were a fan. Drawing lines as to who counts as a fan, and who doesn’t, wasn’t important to her.
Some definitions of sports fandom are inclusive, such as Lindsay’s definition, but this was rare compared to more exclusive definitions like that of Jennifer.
The fact that there are differences in how people define sports fandom is not merely academic. Definitions of sports fandom matter. These definitions enact boundaries for who is to be included and who is to be excluded as a sports fan.
2. Many people do not measure up to their own definitions of sports fandom.
The more specific and detailed the participants were when defining fandom, the more likely they were to find themselves wanting as sports fans in one way or another. After a participant would describe their understanding of a "real fan" (whatever that meant to them), I would always ask her if she saw herself in that definition. Most did not.
Sarah, for example, described sports fans thusly:
"You see that guy, the big guy that’s always like, face painted, head dress on, just probably drunk, you know, they’ve been there since two tailgating the day before, and they have front row seats to every game, you know? As a hockey fan, they’re, you know, on the glass, every game… They’re ready to fight anybody that has anything bad to say about their team."
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Sarah does not fit this description. Most wouldn’t. But I found it really interesting -- why are we setting standards for sports fandom that we can’t meet ourselves? The participants used terms like "should" or "shouldn’t" when talking about their fan behaviours, as if there is an external standard which they are or not meeting. Juliet lamented, "It's supposed to be about the love of the game, not the love of Aaron Rodgers' eyes" as she castigated herself for her professed attraction to the Green Bay quarterback.
But it’s important to ask, why "should" we as sports fans engage in fan behaviours that aren’t important to us? What is sports fandom "supposed to" be? And who is more likely to meet these standards of fandom than others?