All sports fans know the rollercoaster ride they are getting into when supporting their favorite teams. It is a never-ending cycle between the ups of scoring and the plunging feeling of trailing behind the other team.
A recent study conducted by the University of Sussex found that sports fans,
“Might feel about 3.9 points happier than usual when their team wins–about the same boost as from listening to music. That’s more than offset by the 7.8 points of extra sadness that fans will feel in the hour after their team loses.”
So, while the joy of a win can often lead to brief moments of elation, the agony of their defeats will leave far longer emotional pain due to emotional internal and external factors.
One of the reasons fans’ emotional responses intensify is because of the emotional connection they have with their team. Many sports fans closely connect their identity to the loyalty they share with their team. When their team loses, sports fans can perceive it as something personal.
Marco Viera, a die-hard Dodgers fan, explains the close connection between his identity and his team.
“My whole family are Dodgers fans,” Viera says. “My mom didn’t care about baseball when I was younger, but now she’s one of the loudest at the games. The Dodgers are a family thing for us.”
Sports fans grow up learning to love a certain team that follows them throughout their life. Oftentimes, that team is a local organization that stays constant in their life and intertwines with their daily routines.
Salvador Rodriguez, who grew up in Mexico City, recalls his first game at Estadio Azteca to support his childhood team Club America,
“My uncle took me, I think I was seven years old, and I remember after that game I would ask him every day when we would go again,” Rodriguez explained. “Eventually he got us “Abonos” (season passes) and we were there all the time almost every week.”
It is not as surprising to understand the intense pain of sports fans when we acknowledge the emotional connection they have with their team. Their passion for their team is something that has followed them since childhood.
Furthermore, the social growth of the sports world online has recently amplified the agony of a lost game. Sports can create a sense of community where fans can come together to support their team and share their thoughts. Which many times also leads to an intensified feeling of disappointment and loss now shared via social media.
Jazmin Lopes, a lifelong FC Barcelona fan, shares her experience of going online after her team loses,
“For me, it’s extremely painful to lose because everyone expects Barcelona to win. If Barcelona loses, I have to put up with the jokes of everyone,” Lopes shares. “It’s not just hearing about it once, I have to hear about it from friends and see post after post on Instagram and TikTok.”
Similar to Lopes’ experiences, Viera also shares the aftermath of his social media after a Dodgers defeat.
“Maybe it’s because I follow 10 Dodgers accounts and five other baseball accounts, but when they lose, all I see is that on my timeline.”
Moreover, when losses happen frequently and recently, it intensifies the emotional impact on fans. When faced with a series of losses or a crushing defeat, it’s difficult to find any happiness from previous successes.
Something Lopes has experienced recently, as FC Barcelona has experienced one of their worst seasons in years.
“Right now, I’m not even surprised or sad when we lose. It’s more a feeling of disappointment, I’m at the point where when we lose or they score on us, I just feel numb now.”
The feeling of numbness is something Viera has also dealt with prior to 2020, when Dodgers won the World Series.
“Before we won, I had grown to accept that I would never see my team win,” Viera recalls. “I hoped they would, but I had grown to accept they wouldn’t. Even when statistics and experts said this was the Dodgers year. I never believed it.”
Whether it’s one lost game or five the agony of defeat has a more profound effect on sports fans compared to the joy of victory. Due to the strong impact of the emotional investment, they share with their team. Heightened now more than ever with the increased social dynamics of sports fandoms online. Yet, despite the agony of losing, sports fans remain loyal and passionate, embracing the emotional ups and downs as an essential part of the ride.
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