A fair shake for the fair-weather fan

ABSTRACT

After initially pitting partisans against purists, the literature on the ethics of fandom has coalesced around a pluralist position: purists and partisans each have their own merits, and there is no ideal form of fandom. In this literature, however, the fair-weather fan continues to be viewed with dismissal and (sometimes) derision. While some fair-weather fans may earn this contempt, many fair-weather fans, we argue, are not only acceptable, they have important advantages over partisans and purists, and as such are in a better position to navigate some of the moral complexities inherent in modern sports. We develop this argument first by clarifying the nature of the fair-weather fan. We then examine challenges that fans face in many modern sports, first owing to their economic nature and, second, due to the morally tainted status of many of them. We argue that the fair-weather fan meets these challenges in ways that the partisan and purist cannot replicate.

KEYWORDS:

• Fandom
• sports fans
• partisan
• purist
• fair-weather fan
• loyalty

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A purist might develop a rooting interest in a particular team out of a sense that the team plays the game more artfully than its rivals do.

2. Also, many fans of used bookstores wound up rooting for the team because of a relief pitcher’s social media posts about how important such places can be for a community (Diamond 2019).

3. Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for raising this point.

4. There are occasional exceptions. Sometimes, a lavishly rich ownership runs a team at an acceptable financial loss in order to compete for a championship or bolster their public image (e.g., ‘sportswashing’). Other times, ownership will temporarily swallow a bloated payroll to make the most of a generational talent’s prime. But even in these cases, there are economic reasons that speak in favor of short-term financial losses: the possibility of television contracts, sponsorships, and fan devotion that will pay future dividends.

5. For example, one study tells teams how to create fans that ‘display a high degree of behavioral loyalty through their regular participation in the team’s events and other activities and purchases of the team’s licensed products’ (Karjaluoto, Munnukka, and Salmi 2016, 54). Another study recommends investment strategies to produce ‘long-term effects, such as trust in the team and team identification’ (Wu, Tsai, and Hung 2012, 177) so that fan loyalty will survive the comings and goings of individual players.

6. For a similar point about having ‘faith in someone’, see Preston-Roedder (2013).