The popularity of spectator sports, especially professional sports, in American society is not a new social phenomenon. Barbara Ehrenreich (1998, p. 78) maintains that in Ancient Rome sports fanaticism may actually be the real reason for the fall of Rome, ôAt the height of the Empire, the stadium was the centerpiece of every Roman town. Loyalty to chariot-racing leagues eclipsed all political passions. When the barbarians attacked the gates of the Roman city of Hippo, no one much notices because the groans of the dying soldiers were drowned out by the roar from the stadium.ö Rampant sports mania may have originated in Ancient Rome, but from new multi-billion dollar luxury stadiums and Web broadcasting of sports events the world over to tailgating mania and cheese-head-hat wearing sports fanatics, sports mania is alive and well in contemporary American society.
This analysis will discuss the phenomenon of rampant sports mania and sports fanaticism among spectators of professional and collegiate sports in American society. The analysis will provide examples of sports fanaticism as well as the psychological and social reasons for sports mania. A conclusion will address the potential future of sports mania and spectator fanaticism in American society.
Writing in the New England Journal of Public Policy, in his article ôI am right; you are dead,ö Wole Soyinka (2005, p. 417) argues that with fanatics a ôàdisposition of mind toward alternative concepts is next to impossible.ö So it is with tens of millions of fans through the Unites States, fans who refuse to admit any alternative to their obsession for a particular sports team. From the cheese-head-hat wearing fans of the Greenbay Packers and the ôterrible towelö waving fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers to the cheese-steak-hat wearing fans of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Native American headdress-wearing fans of the Washington Redskins, American sports spectators ar...