Sport as a spectacle has become an unusual concept with the outbreak of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Smaller clubs and financially insecure leagues from a variety of sports have generally voted to wind things up early in their own ways, with only the elite levels of competitions with major sponsors and television deals have been able to continue behind closed doors. Depending on where you live and your local, regional or national regulations the traditional methods of watching your team or preferred game, code and/or activity of choice is probably now not particularly accessible. It’s a lot harder to go to the game to support your local side and yell ‘advice’ from the terraces. The average fan or supporter now has to do so through differing methods of multi media interaction. Television, online streaming, rolling text from your preferred news website and even radio, if that’s still what you enjoy (although, I’ve never understood the interest of listening to golf).
The concept of armchair fans is not a new one. The breakaway Premier League, in English football, normalised pay-per-view televised sport within the United Kingdom, however, similar business models had been happening in the USA for many years previously. Networks and media organisations are now selling televisual rights all over the world in order to make more money and, at times, even promote a colloquial sport in a different part of the world. As I write this, I have an NHL (National Hockey League) Stanley Cup Qualifier, between Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins, on in the background. Recently, I had a conversation with somebody who enjoys watching a bit of AFL (Australian Rules Football) on a Sunday morning – we both live in Scotland and grew up in the UK. Another friend of mine is an avid Liverpool Football Club fan, He thinks of it being his club and has an emotional connection to it’s success. He’s also Scottish and has never lived in the Northern English city. Possibly because of the gap between rich and poor teams (the haves and the have nots) and mass media attention on certain big leagues (the level of visibility of a less successful club in a saturated market) people aren’t, necessarily, choosing their favourite teams based upon where they are from and who their family supports anymore, or at least not to the same extent as they did in the past.
Sports fans are now starting to following the results of teams, not only from different towns, cities and regions to that from which they hail, but also from different countries altogether who have traditionally had variations in sporting culture. North American sports are becoming more popular in the UK through programmes seen through on-demand television, as well as online streaming. Why might people choose to support teams from cities that they have never been to? The English sports writer Nick Davidson wrote an interesting book called Pirates, Punks and Politics, which describes his support of the small German football side FC St. Pauli. He writes about the club’s history and surrounding fan culture that suits his outlook on life and what he wants to get out of a sporting spectacle. What Davidson points out is that he has more in common with the ideals held by those who administer and support a club in a foreign part of Europe than the team that he grew up watching.
When we consider the variables mentioned above of a globalised pay-per-view sports TV industry, combined with fluctuating local regulations on attending sporting events, as well as people’s predilection to keep up to date with the stories and intrigues that come with following a specific team, will we see a greater number of sports fans following foreign clubs and sports? If this is the case, then what will people look for in choosing a side, if locale and parental influence aren’t deciding factors anymore? I think that, much like Nick Davidson, some people might drift towards teams based around class, social and/or political ideologies or traditions. Others, like my Liverpool supporting friend, might choose in part because there is a history of Scottish players playing for a particular side. Some people will just be glory hunters and follow the team that is successful from time to time. One thing that I now suspect is that the ‘new normal’ will quite possibly bring with it a new definition of what being a supporter means.
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