Inside Fan Psychology: Sports Are Businesses Now and You Don’t Matter

There is this interesting dichotomy in professional sports that I seldom see fans stepping back from themselves and acknowledging: professional sports are no longer sports…they are businesses. For that matter, I will throw in the NCAA because finding the loophole that allows you to LEGALLY never pay taxes is the best business move I have ever seen — take that Enron!

Professional sports, like the majority of businesses, are entirely dependent on getting people to care. Whether it’s your favorite team, your favorite sport, or any of the surrounding businesses and advertising associated with sports, they all depend on your emotional investment. But, the dichotomy is, they do not care about you. Yup. Think about that for a second. They need you to watch games, attend them from time to time, and especially consume their sponsors’ advertising — but, they do not know or care about your existence. This deep emotional connection is what drives sports. And who is complaining? I love my favorite teams. But, I also understand that they do not know who I am and certainly do not know about the love or pain I feel for when they win or lose. Despite the feelings we have for our teams’ successes and failures, exactly zero percent of any outcome in sports should affect our actions.

Logically, this makes sense. Yet, how often does the loss of a fan’s team go beyond just ruining their day? For instance, the businesses of entire towns can fluctuate based on the success of their local team (recent example: UK). Not as many college students are going out to the bar if their team loses. This transpires into all business aspects of sports — which is why driving this emotional connection is so imperative to professional organizations, because ensuring that you overreact — to events that have nothing to do with you — is how they make money. I am not saying this is wrong or bad, but I think it merits a conversation and a little reflection. Even more interesting that a single mishap in a play can push a person in to a maddening rage, equivalent to a psychopathic, murderous criminal in a movie. The only difference is, the guy in the movie is an actor who is pretending. Again the recent actions at UK come to mind. So, let’s deconstruct this behavior for a second. You think that you, a fan who has never played sports at a professional level, has the right to critique the multi-million dollar athlete playing? Now, we’re all guilty of this, of course. But, there are some people who are so unaware of their own assertions towards what is happening that they bicker and yell at the twinge of every athlete’s highly tuned, graceful movements (that they could only do in their dreams). And it’s usually the mouth-breathing fat ugly guy in a camouflage jersey who yells the most. I bring this up, because I spent my Easter Sunday at Joe Louis Arena watching my favorite sports team, the Detroit Red Wings. And while I was there I was fortunate enough to have been seated near two of the most vocal and critical fans in my section. (I’ll allow your imagination to outline their physique and attire.)

Of course, they yelled stupid meaningless things, that only broadcasted their own stupidity to everyone who heard them — but in reality, their behavior was completely harmless. Annoying and distracting at times? Yes — especially since the Wings lost (2–1 to the Capitals). But, unless their chanting caused them to spill any one of the twelve beers they had on the people in front of them (I wouldn’t’ve put it past them), then who’s complaining? I for one, found that their ignorant commentary actually enhanced my experience and enjoyment level. So much so, I took the initiative to record them.

Here’s a few snippets they belched:

[After dumping the puck into the opponent’s zone for a line change] “AWW! Contain the puck! Ya gotta keep possession!”

[Yelling at a group of Washington fans] “That Ovechkin of your’s is the dirtiest player I’ve ever seen!”

[After Marek Zidlicky got called for Clipping Tom Wilson] “YEAH! That was the best check in hockey! Best check I’ve ever seen! Right below the hip! Right where you’re supposed to him ‘em!”

Now, because I’m a rude, arrogant, disillusioned asshole, who thinks he’s amazing at — and knows everything about — sports, I remorselessly laughed the entire game at them, to them, and in front of them. Followed by the occasional vulgar passive-aggressive joke and explanation about why they knew nothing, to the girl I took to the game — which maybe says more about my disillusionment (I don’t know why she went with me). The point is this that I will give these guys the benefit of the doubt that in their daily lives they’re probably nice people, but when it comes to the passion of sports, they fall in with the rest of the all-consuming heard. Again, this is not a bad thing, what people love is what they love, but just remember two things:

1. On some level your behavior is embarrassing to someone (either, the strangers around you, your fellow fans, or the people you’re with).
2. You’re feeding the monster that is the “sports enterprise” by allowing yourself to helplessly float on the sea of your own emotions and fly into rages, while thoughtlessly consuming a product/advertising that was deigned to play off our emotions.

I’m not saying, “Stop caring about sports.” Hell no. Care about sports. Being there in the midst of a roaring crowd is like no other. The atmosphere in a stadium when your favorite team emerges from the tunnel is as stimulating as anything. Yes, sports organizations are behaving more like companies then governing bodies of the tradition and spirit of the game, but can we blame them? Maybe we can on some level, but the fact is, there’s a lot of money in sports now and they are going to continue to do whatever makes them more money. But, maybe can we be a little more civilized with each other? Maybe can we place a little more faith in the coaches and athletes, and trust that they know what they are doing? And just maybe…let those bad plays go? I promise you it won’t ruin your day. And your wife/girlfriend will thank you for being less disgruntled at dinner. So, let us all sit back, enjoy the game and not frivolously argue with each other over things we no control over. Rival fans lose themselves in endless debate, despite not being on the team and having zero control over the outcome. It solves nothing. Maybe it is just me, but I am turned off by it all. I’m just here to watch a good game and have some fun.