America's Sports Fans and Their Teams: Who Roots for Whom and Why

The title says it all. America's Sports Fans and Their Teams: Who Roots for Whom and Why examines why fans like to watch sporting events and follow certain teams. It looks at who America's sports fans are, which sports they like to watch, which teams they like to follow, and attempts to explain why. It describes how fans differ from those who don't follow sports, and how fans of different sports are alike and dissimilar. The book also presents national popularity rankings of the teams in Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.

Perhaps most ambitiously, it presents detailed inventories and rankings of reasons why fans like their favorite professional team sport and favorite team, and why they chose to follow that team. Beyond the numbers, it illustrates those reasons with quotations from sports enthusiasts throughout the country, capturing the fascinating diversity that makes up America's fans. Based on the information presented, America's Sports Fans and Their Teams examines the role of spectator sports in American life and what it might look like in the future.

The primary source material consists of data from a survey of 1,303 sports fans and 522 non-fans across the country, plus an additional 80 in-depth interviews.

Nowhere else is the question "Who roots for whom and why?" addressed with as much detail and rigor. The book should be of interest to sports enthusiasts curious about what motivates fans. It should have special utility for sports marketing professionals, sportswriters, and students of fandom.