Violence in Sport
Violence is present in a number of sports from football to golf. Violence does not just encompass the playing field and the players, but violence stems to the fans at the game, the fans watching the game at their favorite bar, or the fans watching the game at home.
Many sports by nature require a level of violence to be able to succeed. For example in football one cannot be successful in the sport if they don’t tackle with a vengeance. In hockey one must check other players against the boards in an attempt to drift them away from the puck. In baseball a pitcher throws at the batter in an attempt to send a message to the other team. Violence is everywhere in sports, but when it transforms from the field to the stands it can become a dangerous problem.
The book “The Sociology of Sports,” by Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan provide 9 situational factors that lead to spectator violence. Each factor will be touched on followed by suggestions on how social media can eliminate or reduce spectator violence in sports.
Hypermasculinity - This refers to a belief among young males that honor and respect encompasses the ability to physically dominate another.
A Strong Sense of Identity – many spectators have such a strong connection to the team that their very identity is shaped by the team.
Alcohol Consumption – many spectators that engage in sports violence have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol.
Frustration – Fans realize that they cannot have a direct effect on the outcome of the game which makes them frustrated when the team struggles to win.
A Dense Crowd – Large and compact crowds create anxiety among spectators because they feel that their personal space has been violated.
A Large Crowd – Large crowds also increase the chance of violence because large crowds feel like they can outnumber security forces.
Mob Mentality – Individuals tend to lose their inhibitions and sense of “right” versus “wrong” when they become a part of a large crowd.
Important Games – The more important the game is the more passionate fans become which could lead to violence.
In-Game Player Violence – Spectators respond to player violence by creating violence themselves. They think that violence is acceptable because the players on the field do it.
Social media can be used to counter hyper-masculinity. For example organizations could create a Facebook campaign in where humorous PSAs are on the page along with stories from spectators that were victims of sport violence. The PSAs would portray male fans being over masculine in the sport spectator setting and will help to explain this problem in sports. This Facebook campaign will be promoted directly by the organization and hopefully will create enough awareness in where the organization sees a reduction in spectator violence.
PSA’s could also be a viral campaign in where it is shown on NFL.com as an advertisement, on the jumbo screen during NFL games, and as a reoccurring commercial on CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN during NFL broadcasts. American football is the most popular sport in America. Millions of people tune in each week to watch their favorite team, root for their favorite player, or too keep track of their fantasy football numbers. By advertising the PSA’s through the NFL one is reaching the largest audience possible as opposed to advertising the PSA’s during an NHL game.
Social media can also be used to reduce alcohol consumption. One creative way this could be done is through Twitter status updates on cell phones. For example fans who subscribe to the teams twitter page will get a text message when a fan consumes more than 2 alcohol beverages within an hour. This message would be a friendly reminder saying that you have exceeded 2 alcohol beverages within an hour and would suggest that you be careful in consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. This message will serve as a wake-up call for spectators who go to the games to get drunk and will cause the person who receives the text message to think about how much they are drinking. This will hopefully reduce the number of excessively intoxicated patrons at games. Less alcohol consumption means less violence which creates a better spectator experience.
The same could be done for dense and large crowds. When entering the venue patrons would receive a text message stating the estimated crowd and stating that the large crowds might make some people feel claustrophobic and for everyone to be patient and polite when walking through the concourses and stadium.
Lastly social media can help reduce frustration by posting material that is positive Facebook material. For example if the team loses a big game, the Facebook postings would not be on the disappointing loss, but on the opportunities that the team faces for the remainder of the season. This is very simple, but I feel that fans confidence in the team is mostly shaped by the media and not by the fan themselves. For example if the media states that team A is bad and team B is good, the majority of the population will believe that team A is bad, even if team A has shown evidence that they are a successful sports team. Sport talk shows in essence are just a big prediction, but viewers believe these predictions because the commentators are former players of a sport, they are immersed in the business and have inside information, or the viewers just don’t know better so they choose to believe the first sentence that comes out of a commentators mouth.
Frustration can also be controlled by the implementation of humor. For example if the Bills lost a heartbreaking loss against the Patriots which would have won them the division, the Bills social media director could post a video of Bill Cosby standup to ease the pain of the loss and to get the fans minds off of the game for a moment in an attempt to cool their emotions. Sports are just a game. They are not life or death. If sports did not exist we would be able to live as a society perfectly fine and therefore fans need absorb sport as entertainment and not make a loss a personal problem for themselves and the people that are around them. This simple way of thinking could reduce the amount of violence in sports significantly.
