I moved to Melbourne, Australia, 14 years ago, and fandom is very different: it's almost a requirement to choose a team, and if the team you choose isn't the same as the person's team then you have to give a reason. My first impression was men and women seemed equally interested.
In the last few years, women's football (Australian Rules, soccer and rugby league) have clubs that are the same name and structure for men and women, unlike the NBA/WNBA in which the teams that were in the same city were just similar to each other.
In all seriousness, as a male that grew up without a father in the picture with my mother and sister, I've always struggled some to interact with my fellow males. This is likely also the reason I didn't grow up watching sport either (other than my grandfather's first love, auto racing). I've always thought sports could use more of the female perspective. Not only because I personally have always had an easier time interacting with females, but also because of the real reason I loved reading this article so much.
Females tend to be less reluctant to admit that the appeal is the drama. This is absolutely correct. Sports ARE the drama they create, either between the humans who are watching, between the humans who are playing, or between the humans talking about the humans playing. I started a whole Substack publication that's (basically) all about NFL drama, meaning it's obviously damn appealing to me. Nothing is better for escapism than falling into a good story, and the NFL allows us to do that every week. I enjoy this scarcity, because there's only so much escapism I need in my life, but even if you'd like some more, there are sports every day of the week in North America.
The sense of community in sport is interesting in that it's almost optional. If you want to hide in a basement watching the games, admitting to nobody that you're a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars (which pre-Substack was my NFL experience), that's an option. If you'd like to be a sports gambler, insulating yourself from the community by individualizing your goals (everybody cheers when a touchdown is scored, but only you cheer when you hit a four-way parlay), you can do that, but you can also do things like this, engaging with fellow fans basically any time you'd like.
In all, as somebody who also did not come out of the womb as a sport fan (other than auto racing), I agree that this sport fan thing is pretty fantastic.
Thank you for reading and commenting! 🧡 After yesterday's game I do shake my head at the decision to become a Bengals fan. But it was the drama that fueled my decision there too: How Paul Brown was fired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and founded the Bengals as the rival team in Ohio out of spite. That's what got me hooked in the first place. And I love a bit of an underdog team, one that isn't winning all the time and where a Super Bowl win would mean A LOT. I did not count on them losing as often as they have though - not with Burrow and Chase.
Love your take on the sense of community being optional, so true! I can interact when I feel like it, but I don't have to.
And I will definitely check out your Substack, sounds really interesting.
Apologies for promoting in your comments section... I meant to click the 'share as Note' button, so it was intended as a public-facing comment, but if you're into sports drama, I've got some meat on that bone, no doubt.
The Bengals are an awesome story. The Browns are LITERALLY named after Paul Brown, and he got so offended that he decided to start up a competitor to his own namesake. I think you've made a crafty choice though. The Bengals are the best possible team that can still technically be considered an underdog, with all the Super Bowl appearances and playoff wins and such. It's not like being a fan of the lowly Jaguars...
Jaguars? Oh boy, my condolences, I guess?! Are you a fan or just pointing out how incredibly bad it is for them this season?
But this right here is exactly what makes being a sports fan such a great experience: Two strangers commiserating over the sadness that is the NFL sometimes.
Yes, I'm a fan. Holding out hope that someday we can make a time machine and I can go back to 2017. That's seven years since we've had a good team now.
As an American who never got into the NFL and didn’t quite get why people enjoyed it so much, this actually helps me understand it more 😂 I think the fact that you actively chose to get into this sport makes it even more special. (Although my husband is a big fan and now that we live in Germany, he also has been known to get up for the 2am games smh.) I also love that you aren’t forced to root for a specific team just bc you were born in that city. So I’m curious why you chose to become a Bengals fan? 😊
Oh god, so many different reasons played into that. For one, I didn't want to pick a team that most people from overseas would pick, like the Giants, the Bears, or the 49ers. That felt too on the nose for me. I also didn't want to pick a team that wins constantly (sounds crazy, I know). There is always something suspicious about a team that wins all the time and it usually makes for fans who are sore losers. Ultimately it was the Bengals origin story for me. How Paul Brown was fired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and founded the Bengals as the rival team in Ohio out of spite. As you can probably tell by now, the drama is where it is at for me. 😂
Omg incredible 😂😂😂 I had no idea about that drama. But I really love the idea of picking an underdog team though, definitely makes it more interesting!!
I moved to Melbourne, Australia, 14 years ago, and fandom is very different: it's almost a requirement to choose a team, and if the team you choose isn't the same as the person's team then you have to give a reason. My first impression was men and women seemed equally interested.
In the last few years, women's football (Australian Rules, soccer and rugby league) have clubs that are the same name and structure for men and women, unlike the NBA/WNBA in which the teams that were in the same city were just similar to each other.
It had to be the Bengals? Gross!
In all seriousness, as a male that grew up without a father in the picture with my mother and sister, I've always struggled some to interact with my fellow males. This is likely also the reason I didn't grow up watching sport either (other than my grandfather's first love, auto racing). I've always thought sports could use more of the female perspective. Not only because I personally have always had an easier time interacting with females, but also because of the real reason I loved reading this article so much.
Females tend to be less reluctant to admit that the appeal is the drama. This is absolutely correct. Sports ARE the drama they create, either between the humans who are watching, between the humans who are playing, or between the humans talking about the humans playing. I started a whole Substack publication that's (basically) all about NFL drama, meaning it's obviously damn appealing to me. Nothing is better for escapism than falling into a good story, and the NFL allows us to do that every week. I enjoy this scarcity, because there's only so much escapism I need in my life, but even if you'd like some more, there are sports every day of the week in North America.
The sense of community in sport is interesting in that it's almost optional. If you want to hide in a basement watching the games, admitting to nobody that you're a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars (which pre-Substack was my NFL experience), that's an option. If you'd like to be a sports gambler, insulating yourself from the community by individualizing your goals (everybody cheers when a touchdown is scored, but only you cheer when you hit a four-way parlay), you can do that, but you can also do things like this, engaging with fellow fans basically any time you'd like.
In all, as somebody who also did not come out of the womb as a sport fan (other than auto racing), I agree that this sport fan thing is pretty fantastic.
Thank you for reading and commenting! 🧡 After yesterday's game I do shake my head at the decision to become a Bengals fan. But it was the drama that fueled my decision there too: How Paul Brown was fired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and founded the Bengals as the rival team in Ohio out of spite. That's what got me hooked in the first place. And I love a bit of an underdog team, one that isn't winning all the time and where a Super Bowl win would mean A LOT. I did not count on them losing as often as they have though - not with Burrow and Chase.
Love your take on the sense of community being optional, so true! I can interact when I feel like it, but I don't have to.
And I will definitely check out your Substack, sounds really interesting.
Apologies for promoting in your comments section... I meant to click the 'share as Note' button, so it was intended as a public-facing comment, but if you're into sports drama, I've got some meat on that bone, no doubt.
The Bengals are an awesome story. The Browns are LITERALLY named after Paul Brown, and he got so offended that he decided to start up a competitor to his own namesake. I think you've made a crafty choice though. The Bengals are the best possible team that can still technically be considered an underdog, with all the Super Bowl appearances and playoff wins and such. It's not like being a fan of the lowly Jaguars...
Jaguars? Oh boy, my condolences, I guess?! Are you a fan or just pointing out how incredibly bad it is for them this season?
But this right here is exactly what makes being a sports fan such a great experience: Two strangers commiserating over the sadness that is the NFL sometimes.
It's bad every season...
Yes, I'm a fan. Holding out hope that someday we can make a time machine and I can go back to 2017. That's seven years since we've had a good team now.
Sigh.
We will build you a time machine to get that good team back and we get me and the Bengals a good defense and better coaching staff. How about that? 🤣
As an American who never got into the NFL and didn’t quite get why people enjoyed it so much, this actually helps me understand it more 😂 I think the fact that you actively chose to get into this sport makes it even more special. (Although my husband is a big fan and now that we live in Germany, he also has been known to get up for the 2am games smh.) I also love that you aren’t forced to root for a specific team just bc you were born in that city. So I’m curious why you chose to become a Bengals fan? 😊
Oh god, so many different reasons played into that. For one, I didn't want to pick a team that most people from overseas would pick, like the Giants, the Bears, or the 49ers. That felt too on the nose for me. I also didn't want to pick a team that wins constantly (sounds crazy, I know). There is always something suspicious about a team that wins all the time and it usually makes for fans who are sore losers. Ultimately it was the Bengals origin story for me. How Paul Brown was fired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and founded the Bengals as the rival team in Ohio out of spite. As you can probably tell by now, the drama is where it is at for me. 😂
Omg incredible 😂😂😂 I had no idea about that drama. But I really love the idea of picking an underdog team though, definitely makes it more interesting!!