Sociology of Sport Journal, 2012, 29, 168  -185
© 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.
168
Cottingham is with the Department of Sociology University of Akron, Akron, OH.
Interaction Ritual Theory and Sports Fans:
Emotion, Symbols, and Solidarity
Marci D. Cottingham
University of Akron
The study of sport spectatorship has an increasing focus on the importance of
fandom beyond fan violence. Fundamental to understanding fan behavior are
the meaningful rituals and emotions experienced by fans. In this paper, I use the
theoretical work of Randall Collins to examine the ritualistic outcomes of collective
effervescence, emotional energy, and group symbols and solidarity among sport
fans. I illustrate these concepts using case study data from participant observation
of fans of a U.S. football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and content analysis of news
articles. I extend Collins’ interaction ritual (IR) theory by taking the group as the
unit of analysis and analyzing group solidarity beyond situational interactions and
typical sport settings, including the significant life events of weddings and funerals.
While critiquing Collins’ (2004) a priori portrayal of sports fans, the analysis
advances IR theory, improving its utility for understanding sports fan behavior.
Les études sur l’auditoire sportif se penchent de plus en plus sur les phénomènes
liés aux fans qui vont au-delà de la question de la violence chez les spectateurs.
Fondamentales pour la compréhension du comportement des supporters sont les
rituels significatifs et les émotions vécues par les fans. Dans cet article, j’utilise
le travail théorique de Randall Collins pour examiner les aboutissants ritualisés
de l’effervescence collective, l’énergie émotionnelle, ainsi que les symboles et
la solidarité des amateurs sportifs. J’illustre ces concepts en utilisant les données
des études de cas impliquant une observation participante des fans d’une équipe
de football états-unienne (les Steelers de Pittsburgh) et une analyse du contenu
des articles de presse. J’utilise la théorie du rituel interactif (RI) de Collins en
prenant le groupe comme unité d’analyse et en analysant la solidarité du groupe
au-delà des interactions situationnelles et des lieux sportifs typiques, en incluant
des événements marquants de la vie comme les mariages et les funérailles. Tout
en critiquant Collins (2004) et sa façon de voir les fans sportifs, les analyses
font avancer la théorie du RI et améliorent son utilité pour la compréhension des
comportements des fans sportifs.
While the role of fandom and fan behavior has long been a part of the sociological
study of sport, sport scholarship has primarily focused on violence and
hooliganism (Poulton, 2008; Young, 2002). Consequently, other dimensions of
fandom have been relatively neglected (see Duke, 1991 for this critique). While
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   169
this focus may stem from a concern for the antisocial aspects of fandom, a turn
to such meaningful aspects of fandom as rituals and emotions is important for a
more holistic view of this social phenomenon. One theory that focuses on ritual
and emotion is Randall Collins’ theory of “interaction ritual chains” (IR theory).
Moving beyond a focus on fan violence and hooliganism, I extend and apply IR
theory to illustrate the emotion-based ritual experiences of fans of a U.S. football
team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a radical microsociological approach, IR theory
provides a critical lens for understanding emotion and ritual behaviors of fans and
the meaning that fandom provides.
After locating my work theoretically within the previous literature on sports
fandom and emotion, I discuss how Collins’ (2004) theory, through modification,
can be applied to sports fan settings and situations. I then provide findings from my
analysis of fans at Heinz Field (the Steelers home stadium) and in sports bars before
tracing (via news articles) the use of fan rituals and symbols across several other
locations and situations. Applying and extending IR theory to sports fans captures
how sports fans, as an informal social group, develop and maintain meaning and
solidarity across time and space.
Sports Fans and Emotion
Our understanding of sports fandom has been advanced largely by psychological
and quantitative work (Bizman &Yinon, 2002; Wann, 2006; Wann & Branscombe,
1993; Wann & Pierce, 2003). Sociological literature has focused primarily on the
use of alcohol (End et al., 2009; Nelson &Wechsler, 2003), aggression and violence
among fans, or hooliganism (Braun & Vliegenthart, 2009; Dunning, Murphy, &
Williams, 1986; Pilz, 1996; Russell, 2004; Ward, 2002). Beyond a focus on sports
fans as deviant, scholars have looked increasingly at positive aspects of fandom
(Hugenberg & Hugenberg 2008; Kraszewski, 2008; Wenner 1990). Some have
explored the changing market relations between owners and fans as “customers”
(King, 1997), fans as consumers of cultural commodities (Hughson & Free, 2006),
and the role of the media in the production of meaning (Lee, 2005). Despite the
fact that the sports fan experience clearly involves intense emotional experiences,
the role of emotion or feelings of group solidarity for understanding fandom has
received relatively little explicit attention.
Some scholars have recognized the meanings supplied by fan identity and
emotion when they classify sports fandom as a secular form of religion (Birrell,
1981; Burstyn, 2005; Frey & Eitzen, 1991; Hunt, 2003). Unfortunately, these
approaches have suffered from a dearth of evidence that is empirical, naturalistic,
and contextualized in the meanings of particular sports fans. Dunning, Murphy, and
Williams (1986) noted that fandom “has come to form one of the principal media
of collective identification in modern society and one of the principal sources of
meaning in life for many people” (p. 222). Attention to the meaning of fandom is,
thus, vital to a complete understanding of sports fans and their behavior.
Contemporary approaches to emotion (Elias, 1994/2000; Elias and Dunning,
1986; Kemper, 2006) often take a macro level approach that focuses on society’s
role in control and constraint. For example, Elias (1994/2000) developed his
figurational, process approach to social analysis by looking at how the body and
emotion are repressed through the civilizing process. Turning to sport, Elias and
170  Cottingham
Dunning (1986) highlighted the role of excitement drawn from leisure activities.
This excitement stands in contrast to the “almost unshakeable habit of restraint”
that pervades the majority of social existence (1986, p. 71). Sports, according to
an Eliasian view, provides a means through which modern individuals satisfy their
“need to experience the upsurge of strong emotions in public” and release built up
tensions (1986, p. 168). Consistent with Freud’s (1961) conception of emotion, this
approach suggests that tension and other negative emotions require opportunities
for periodic, preferably benign, forms of release. This cathartic approach presumes
emotion to be inherently volatile. Sports provide one means of catharsis. By contrast,
interaction ritual (IR) theory provides an important lens on the meaning of fandom
predicated on a positive, socially emergent view of emotion whereby fans’ experiences,
along with their ties to solidarity and social cohesion, are taken seriously.
Interaction Ritual Theory
Interaction Ritual (IR) theory conceptualizes emotion as a socially emergent
(rather than socially constrained) positive energy. Grounded in Durkheim’s work
(1912/1965), attention is given to the socially emergent, positive emotions found
in fan experiences and thus, the application of IR theory provides an alternative to
the scarcity/release approach of Elias and Dunning (1986). Furthermore, IR theory
focuses on microinteractions as the foundation of society rather than historical processes.
This microsociological approach contributes to an understanding of sports
fans that is complementary to an emphasis on macrolevel, historical processes. The
theory’s scope and synthesis of the micro and macro levels makes it applicable to
many facets of social life (Erickson, 2007; Fine, 2005), including sports fandom.
Building on Durkheim (1912/1965) and Goffman (1967), Collins constructed
a microsociology in which emotion forms the symbolically reproduced outcome of
and catalyst for interactions among energized social actors. Collins (1975; 1981;
1990; 2004) examined the mechanisms of interaction underlying a broad range of
social phenomena and argues, as did Durkheim, that values are “cognitions infused
with emotion” (1990, p. 27) and emotions serve as the social mechanisms underlying
societal cohesion. Cementing social relationships, emotion can bypass, fuel,
and be influenced by cognition (Loseke, 2009); but it is emotion that pervades the
most intimate and public of social settings, serving as both outcome and catalyst.
Drawing on Goffman (1967), IR theory is used to analyze the interactions that
make up everyday social encounters and the importance of such encounters for the
existence of both society and self. Key elements of the theory are ritual ingredients,
ritual outcomes, and collective effervescence.
Successful interaction rituals require certain “ingredients.” They may occur
when there are: “two or more people are physically assembled in the same place;
boundaries to outsiders; people [who] focus their attention upon a common object
or activity; and they share a common mood or emotional experience” (Collins,
2004, p. 47–49). Focused attention and a shared common mood draw on Mead’s
(1934) notion of taking the role of the other. Without the cognitive development
necessary to approach an event or object from the perspectives of others, successful
interaction rituals are infeasible. One difficulty with these two ingredients is the
degree to which they are dependent upon interpretation. How focused attention is
and how common a mood may be is dependent on the meanings attached to the
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   171
experience. The formality of an interactional situation affects the nature of the first
two ingredients (physical copresence and boundary maintenance) but “formal”
rituals are not necessary for the development of successful IR chains. Finally, the
extent to which ingredients are present in any particular interaction varies across
situations and thus becomes a key variable for empirical analysis.
Outcomes of a successful interaction ritual chain include: group solidarity—
“a feeling of membership;” emotional energy—“a feeling of confidence, elation,
strength, enthusiasm, and initiative in taking action;” group symbols; and a sense of
morality—“the sense of rightness in adhering to the group, respecting its symbols,
and defending both against transgressors” (Collins, 2004, p. 49). Generation of
emotion among group members determines the degree and longevity of a group’s
solidarity and its ability to maintain coherence beyond specific situational events.
Symbols are fundamental to this process as they arise from focusing attention on
specific objects in “otherwise anonymous crowds,” and from “personal identities
and narratives” (p. 87). The culmination of outcomes is collective effervescence—“a
momentary state,” but one that has lasting impact when it is “embodied in sentiments
of group solidarity, symbols or sacred objects, and individual emotional energy”
(p. 36). The extent to which the above ingredients and outcomes sustain intersubjectivity
across interactions (linked as chains) determines the degree of collective
effervescence. Although examining these experiences on an interactional level
cannot tell us precisely what people think and feel, using IR theory, one is able to
infer emotions by observing the sustainment of emotional energy across interactions.
In his a priori application of IR theory to sports fans, Collins described sports
fans as consisting of “a community that has no other coherence, and no other purpose,
than the experience of the peaks of ritual emotion itself” (2004, p. 59). For
Collins, fandom relied on “a volatile and episodic experience that comes out just
at moments of high ritual intensity” (p. 83). He further argued that group symbols
which develop as a result of collective effervescence among fans do not withstand
the test of time because they are “situationally specific” (p. 83). Sports fans also
lack, according to Collins, a sense of strong solidarity because of the universal
availability of sports as a conversational resource—as the generic conversation
starter “how about them Steelers?!” suggests (see p. 384). In sum, Collins argued
that fans collectively have “no other purpose” outside of peak “ritual emotion;”
their symbols are “situationally specific” and hence not capable of transcending
situations; and the universal availability of sports for conversation implies weak
solidarity. By dismissing sporting rituals as “contrived,” “artificial,” and “nonserious”
(pp. 58–59), Collins missed an opportunity to further explore the IR
processes underlying examples of sustained fandom. An empirical evaluation of
the extent to which sports fans actually depend on repeated game attendance to
charge and recharge emotional energy and a sense of solidarity is necessary. As I
show below, using Collins’own theory to make sense of sports fans’ behavior, the
preliminary empirical evidence runs counter to his a priori claims.
Methods
As Collins’ IR theory draws from Goffman, I have, similar to Goffman, opted to
use qualitative methods to unearth everyday rituals, focusing on marginal cases
that may be outside of the norm but nonetheless illuminate social theory (Goffman,
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1961; 1967; see also Drew & Wooten, 1988). Following a Goffmanian approach
and viewing Steelers fans as a distinctly bounded system (Stake, 1988), the current
study generates a rich qualitative analysis of an exceptional fanbase. As sports fan
behavior is both a “contemporary phenomenon” and situated in a “real-life context,”
the methods used here follow Yin’s (2003, p. 1) explanatory case study approach
where Steelers fans constitute a particular case of the more general phenomenon
of “sports fandom” (also see Stake, 1994 on the importance of particularity). As
Yin indicated, explanatory case studies are well-suited to illustrating and extending
theoretical ideas. As IR theory focuses on how emotion and solidarity are maintained
across settings and situations, its empirical application requires methods
that are able to capture these processes. Through the triangulated use of formal
observation and content analysis techniques (Stake, 1994), the current study is
able to yield insights into the particular and, at times, peculiarly intense behavior
of Steelers fans. Of course, as Stake (1988) noted, results emerging from this type
of case study approach must be understood in the context of my analytical focus
on IR theory and the times and spaces of observation.
The Steelers are an NFL (National Football League) team based in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (United States), with a following of devoted fans. The season this
study took place, ESPN, an American sports news network, ranked Steelers fans
as number 1 in the NFL based on their loyalty, creativity, vocal support, travel to
away games and the number of consecutive, sold-out games (Mosley, 2008). In
describing the team and fans, an ESPN blogger states:
No team is as woven into the fabric of a city. The organization’s stability has a
lot to do with it, as generations of Steelers fans relate to the tradition of ownership
(Rooney’s), smashmouth football, quality head coaches (league-low three
since 1969) and success (five Super Bowl titles)1. (Mosley, 2008).
This was not an easy ranking, with the Green Bay Packers of Wisconsin a
very close second to Steelers fans. Hence, it is important to view fan devotion and
the extent to which fans attach meaning and identity to fandom along a continuum
rather than dichotomously between normal and abnormal (Gantz and Wenner,
1995). As a case study, the data gathered are not generalizable to all Steelers fans,
but rather to “a previously developed theory [that] is used as a template with which
to compare empirical results of the case study” (Yin, 2003, pp. 32–33). IR theory
provides the template and Steelers fans, as the number 1 fan base of 2008, are an
appropriate starting point to test Collins’ claims concerning sports fans. Because
the data focus on Steelers fans exclusively, cross comparisons with other fans is
beyond the scope of the analysis.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans may gather in a variety of public settings, but I limited
formal observation and participation (Yin, 2003) to Heinz Field (the Steelers home
stadium), parking lots adjacent to the stadium, and two sports bars in the city on
two game days during the 2008–09 season (approximately 20 hours). Tailgating
occurs before and occasionally after a game as fans congregate in the surrounding
stadium parking lots to prepare food, eat, drink, converse, listen to music, sing, and
play games. My informant, a long-time Steelers fan and Pittsburgh resident, introduced
me to a group of 8–10 regular tailgaters and traveled with me to local bars
as I observed fans watching televised games. During this time I tried to “observe
the ordinary” (Stake, 1995, p. 44), taking notes using a note-taking application on
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   173
my cell phone which I transferred to my laptop for analysis. In line with IR theory,
I analyzed the data by looking for ingredients, outcomes, and instances in which
fan behaviors indicated identification with the team outside of peak emotional
experiences.
Wanting to see how elements of successful rituals carried beyond typical fan
settings, I also analyzed news articles. Collection and analysis of news articles was
driven by my interest in exploring the extent to which team symbols, originating
in IR chains, would travel beyond settings relevant to sport. I thematically selected
and analyzed content, increasing conceptual understanding of fandom (Altheide,
1996). Through “progressive theoretical sampling,” I searched for articles “based
on emerging understanding of the topic under investigation” (Altheide, 1996, p.
33). With data collection originally focused on sports fandom as a quasi-religion,
the search focused on fans and their reliance on Steelers symbols, events, and
meaning during major life events—examples of settings and situations traditionally
framed in religious/existential terms. With funerals and weddings often framed in
religious terms (using religious symbols and rituals) and occupying a conceptual
space not typically associated with sports fandom, I began my search using these
terms in an online search (google.com). After using the key words of “Steelers
fans” and “funerals,” I preceded to search for articles using key words related to
Steelers fans and weddings. Because the study took place during the team’s sixth
Super Bowl win, many articles were from the years 2008–2009 and in the process
of searching, I came across many other aspects of personal and city life that were
influenced by fandom. Overall I sampled a total of 20 articles dealing with events
such as weddings, funerals, and the influence of sports fandom on schools, the city
of Pittsburgh, and small business planning. Rather than cover all of these, I use
examples from the categories of funerals and weddings to illustrate and extend IR
theory, focusing on the degree to which the influence of sports fandom extends
beyond sport-related settings and events.
Using articles from news outlets, scholars cannot ignore the intentions of the
media to entice readers and cater to a specific geographical region of subscribers.
Nearly all of the news articles cited are taken from news outlets that are local to
Pittsburgh.As documents, they demonstrate the peculiarities of particular fans while
also offering a glimpse into the culture of Steelers fans—“the process and array of
objects, symbols, and meanings that make up social reality shared by members”
(Altheide 1996, p. 2). Embodied in the “cultural texts” of published news (HesseBiber
& Leavy, 2004, p. 304), these articles illustrate how fan behavior may involve
more sustained use of symbols and meanings.
Interaction Ritual Chains Among Steelers Fans
Attending a Game
The four ingredients of a successful interaction ritual chain (Collins, 2004) were
readily apparent among fans observed at Heinz Field during a home game. Fans
physically congregated in the stadium with a clear boundary to outsiders— those
who were unable to or uninterested in procuring a ticket for the game. The attention
of fans was clearly directed at the action on the field, by means of both stadium
layout and the display of numerous television screens throughout the stadium and
174  Cottingham
concession area that played live footage of the game. The sharing of an emotional
experience and common mood was best demonstrated by my observance of collective
gestures and verbal responses of the crowd as dictated by the events on the field.
More specifically, this involved the expression, verbally and through gestures, of
positive emotions (e.g., fervent clapping, smiling, cheering, high-fives, and waving
the Terrible Towel—a small black and gold towel with the team’s name and logo)
during plays in which the Steelers did well and the converse (e.g., booing, taunting,
admonishments to improve, shrugs, and looking away from the field) when
they performed poorly.
Many fans engaged in active participation — sharing smiles, hand-slaps, and
hugs, even between strangers. From my field notes, a specific example demonstrated
a fan’s level of emotional energy (i.e., his level of personal excitement, confidence,
and initiative):
Late in the final quarter of the game the Steelers made a spectacular play, which
resulted in much cheering, screaming, clapping, and waving. A man with a
stern face in front of me, probably in his late twenties to early thirties, began
to remove layers of clothing. Finally, he pulled his final shirt up over his head
and stood cheering and screaming without a shirt in temperatures around 15
degrees Fahrenheit. After a second stellar play on behalf of the Steelers, the
man beside him also took off his many layers of coats and shirts and the two
clutched hands and screamed in earnest.
As Collins noted, the level of individual emotional energy demonstrated in
active participation has an effect on the solidarity of a group: “[C]ollective solidarity
and identity is stronger to just the extent that the crowd goes beyond being passive
observers to actively taking part” (2004, p. 82). When these two men also turned
to face my informant, to them a stranger who was also gesturing and yelling, and
gestured for a high-five, this further suggested that fans will seek out “bodily contact
with each other” as an outcome of the emotional energy and group solidarity felt
during moments of heightened and active spectatorship. Observing the solidarity
exhibited in this behavior may also increase feelings of solidarity (Collins, 2004).
Beyond the specific dynamics of the game, feelings of group solidarity were palpable
in the corridors and stairwells of the stadium as fans exchanged smiles, cheers, and
collective chants. Gestures and verbal responses following the game’s conclusion
(a Steelers victory) were not as organized as they were during the game, but these
rituals reverberated among fans as they made their way to cars and homes.
The behaviors described are not unique to Steelers fans, as anyone who has
attended a game or watched a game on television can attest. But the observations
made during attendance confirmed the presence of collective effervescence and
emotional energy among fans at the stadium. As the central location of the game,
the stadium environment was permeated with intense emotions. Going beyond the
stadium, I also observed interaction rituals while tailgating before a game and in
local sports bars.
Tailgating and Sports Bars
IR ingredients (Collins, 2004) were more informal and varied while tailgating and
watching the game in sports bars than those observed at the stadium. While tailgat-
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   175
ing and sports bars have notable differences, in tracing the presence and absence
of IR ingredients, I combine the two. Though informal, group symbols and rituals
remained prolific among tailgaters and fans watching the game in bars. Although
tailgaters did not exhibit the levels of intensity observed at the stadium (few collectively
orchestrated rituals such as chanting, clapping, yelling, or towel-waving),
fans in this setting showed levels of solidarity, muted emotional energy, and expressions
of moral disdain for fair-weather fans and any denigration of group symbols.
Symbols were pervasive. Fans wore Steelers clothing, painted faces, decorated
vehicles with decals, and drank from cans nestled in Steelers beer cozies. It is
difficult to overstate the ubiquity of such symbols within every setting I observed.
In the case of tailgating, weather served as a meaningful boundary and, among
hardcore fans, a means to retain and reinforce a sense of moral superiority. For
example, parking lots and sidewalks were much more crowded when the temperature
was in the mid to high 50’s than it was on colder days (i.e., low 20’s Fahrenheit).
As I recorded in my field notes on a relatively warm day:
The warmer temperatures seemed to draw more fans (including more children)
and also added a more festive mood to the gathering. The number of fans in
the parking lots seemed to have doubled in comparison with the last [colder]
trip. There were also games, much like carnival games, in which contestants
attempted to maneuver through an inflated mini-football field without falling
over or throw a football accurately into a target.
This finding may be particularly unique to fans in colder climates, where colder
temperatures must be endured. Weather is not likely to be a constructed barrier for
fans in warmer climates such as Texas or Florida.
One reason IR rituals (Collins, 2004) were less intense in these nonstadium
settings is the absence of strict barriers to attendance.Attending a sports bar requires
little more than an ID to verify one’s age. While local bars placed considerable
emphasis on local sports teams, demonstrated by the set up and décor of the establishments,
there was a greater degree of variation in intensity of fan behavior in bars
as compared with the stadium. Games were shown on all televisions—placed so
that nearly every seat in the establishment had a view—and bars were decorated in
jerseys, Terrible Towels, and black and gold streamers. Exclusive emphasis on the
game and the raucous behavior of fans may have deterred some patrons who were
not Steelers fans, but the pervasiveness of decorations and televisions suggests this
was of little concern to bar management.
Fans in sports bars were physically assembled and focused on the game for
the most part, but as my field notes suggest, fans remained seated except during
exceptional events, clapped sporadically, and carried on side conversations throughout
the game:
Chatter continued throughout the first quarter, with sporadic bursts of cheers,
clapping, smiles, Terrible Towel waving, and high fives after notable plays—
when their opponent performed poorly, and when the Steelers gained a first
down, interception, or touchdown.
The gestures and verbal responses of fans at the bars appeared less emphatic
and synchronized in comparison with those at the stadium. Fans watching the game
176  Cottingham
at bars remained seated for most of game and took a more passive and less enthusiastic
role in observing the game through the medium of television. Tailgaters,
because they were not focused on a common activity, rarely displayed collectively
orchestrated behavior. Rarely did gathered fans collectively wave Terrible Towels
or synchronize chanting of a single phrase (i.e., “Here We Go Steelers, Here
We Go!”). There was, however, a muted collective mood of excitement and
anticipation that pervaded tailgating and the sports bar pointing to long-term
emotional moods that make up these weekly, seasonal rituals. The importance
of these long-term emotions is not ignored by Collins: “We must also be able
to talk about the long-term emotional tones, even the ones that are so calm and
smooth as not to be noticed. In theoretical terms, it is the long lasting ones […]
which are of greatest importance” (1990, p. 31). Unfortunately, Collins did not
apply this same logic to the case of sports fans, though the evidence here suggests
that fans experience successful interaction rituals outside of peak experiences in
the stadium setting.
In tailgating and sports bar settings, settings beyond moments of high intensity
ritual (Collins, 2004), fans held a coherent identity, even if they were primarily
anonymous to one another. As my informant demonstrated, some fans go tailgating
without the means or intention of attending the game—without the promise
of a peak emotional experience in the stadium. This suggests that fans congregate
for the purpose of drawing on the collective effervescence and emotional energy
embodied in the symbols alone, detached from the experience of peak “ritual
emotion” (Collins, 2004) and tied instead to the more muted ritual emotions found
while tailgating and at sports bars.
The observations made while tailgating and in sports bars could apply to other
fan bases in other cities, but without systematic observation of other fans, it is difficult
to gauge the representativeness of these findings. Regardless, my data illustrate
the maintenance of IR chains outside of the stadium and among fans who are not
experiencing peak ritual emotions. Despite being more muted and uncoordinated,
rituals among these fans did exist and collective effervescence and emotional energy
were drawn from the symbols and interactions available. Contrasting tailgating and
sports bars with the stadium illustrates how IR chains successfully exist beyond
the peak emotion generated in the stadium.
Morality among Steelers Fans
As suggested above, the development of feelings of morality that lead individuals
to defend the group and its sacred symbols against outsiders is a culminating
feature of a successful interaction ritual (Collins, 2004). Through conversations
with tailgaters, I was able to detect a degree of moral hierarchy among fans. Fans
who did not arrive for tailgating early in the day and during cold weather were
disparaged as “fair-weather” fans. This term, though, went beyond the weather and
included several other attributes: attending games and favoring the Steelers only
when the team is doing well; failure to attend during cold or unpleasant weather,
and knowing little about the playoffs. Using these three modes of evaluation (team
performance, weather, and knowledge of the team/game), fans use the term “fairweather
fan” to convey a moral hierarchy that idealizes a devoted, “hardcore” fan
as one who is knowledgeable about the game itself, the nuances of playoffs and
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   177
rankings and remains loyal to the team through seasons of poor performance and
inclement weather.
In his analysis of the sacred, Durkheim (1912/1972) noted that, “by definition,
sacred beings are separate beings. Their principal characteristic is that there is a
break in continuity between them and profane beings” (pp. 232–233). Echoing
Durkheim (1912/1965, pp. 237–238), Collins (2004) highlighted the distinction
between the sacred and mundane: “respect for sacred objects, and for the group
sentiments behind them, is a higher value than the merely mundane, individual
consideration of ‘useful or injurious effects’” (p. 40). The establishment of morality
is conveyed in the separation of the sacred from the profane. In the case of Steelers
fans, this is demonstrated in the treatment of two group symbols: the Terrible
Towel and beloved quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Fans do not use the towel
for any utilitarian purpose; rather it is a prop to be waved during games and may
be displayed as a decorative item on walls in homes, offices, and public places.
Opponents have been known to step on a Terrible Towel, or use it as an ordinary
towel (i.e., for cleaning/drying) in an effort to gloat or taunt players and fans (see
“Steelers Fans Fuming,” 2008). Ben Roethlisberger, the starting quarterback for
the 2008–09 season, was also an important symbol for the team2. A conversation
at a concession stand between my informant and another fan confirmed Roethlisberger’s
status as a sacred object:
My informant, after watching Ben Roethlisberger throw the ball away (into the
crowd, rather than to a player), shouted an obscenity and expressed frustration
at the quarterback’s poor play.A middle-aged man in front of us turned around
and asked him if he realized how hard it was to throw a football in freezing
weather and under those circumstances.
From this observation, the older man defends Roethlisberger as a sacred object
to a fellow fan that he believes is behaving irreverently. In objecting to the criticism,
the man calls my informant’s knowledge of the game (throwing the ball in the
freezing weather) into question, suggesting that my informant is not a hardcore fan.
In sum, symbols of group membership (Collins, 2004)—including the team
logo and colors, Terrible Towels, Steelers-themed coats, sweaters, hats, gloves,
scarves, bags, tablecloths, lawn chairs, car decals, inflated figurines, and painted
faces—pervaded all three observed settings. The degree of “emotional energy”
(Collins, 2004) observed to be experienced by individuals was related to the mutual
focus of the group. The muted emotional energy observed and experienced while
tailgating could be seen as the result of fans drawing upon the shared energy stored
in group symbols, as well as the rituals of wearing and displaying their favored
merchandise. As Collins (2004) would suggest, missing from this fan setting
was a single set of events or activities that served as the focus of everyone’s
attention—something that is provided when attending a game. The greater the
collective focus of attention the more emotional energy exhibited by fans. The
fact that outcomes were more intense and apparent in the stadium setting, where
the key ingredient of a barrier to outsiders was most strictly enforced, affirms the
theoretical importance of this ingredient. The attributes that distinguish devoted
fans are not limited to game time and space but, as shown below, extend to major
life events beyond sport.
178  Cottingham
Group Solidarity among Steelers Fans
As illustrated in observations of fans, collective effervescence (Collins, 2004) is
embodied in group symbols (e.g., the Terrible Towel) and influences a group’s
demonstration of coordinated ritual behavior—a key indicator of group solidarity.
However, a group’s level of solidarity may also be determined by analyzing the
extent to which its symbols retain potency beyond the peak moments of ritualistic
intensity (Collins, 2004). Claiming that sports rituals lack the ability to maintain
a sense of solidarity once the game concludes, Collins (2004) views fans’ interaction
ritual chain as ephemeral—one that may be reinforced week to week during
the season but should quickly disappear after its conclusion. Thus, the degree to
which symbols are able to transcend immediate situations and serve as sources of
collective effervescence in other settings represents the level of solidarity a group
maintains. For fans, high solidarity would be exhibited in their ability to draw collective
effervescence (for groups) and/or emotional energy (for individuals) from
team symbols in settings beyond the stadium and, importantly, in settings and situations
beyond those associated with sport. To assess this expectation, I turn to news
articles of fans, analyzing their content for examples of collective effervescence
and emotional energy maintained beyond the stadium and sports.
Solidarity goes beyond the experience of the game itself and invades elements
and events of everyday life—even those events that are usually framed with religious
meaning. Funerals and weddings—major life events that use transcendent
themes—have been organized and celebrated with the explicit use of Steelers themes
(“Black & Gold,” 2009; Dvorchak, 2006; Dyer, 2005; Johnson, 2006; Lavis, 2007;
“N.H. Woman,” 2007; Sostek & Marsula, 2008). I argue that Steelers symbols, like
the Terrible Towel and the team colors, are incorporated into these events because
of the collective meaning and effervescence that they retain long after moments of
emotional intensity and beyond game-specific situations.
Four of the news articles cited above were published in the off-season, suggesting
that the decision to use Steelers themes in a wedding or funeral was not
influenced by moments of extreme “high ritual intensity” (Collins, 2004) gained
by attending a game or the success of the team during the season (see Dyer, 2005;
Johnson, 2006; Lavis, 2007; Sostek & Marsula, 2008).Also implicated is the number
of chosen symbols that originated in fan interactions—which suggests that other
competing themes, such as religious ones, were not chosen. As the news articles
show, fandom blends with family, religion, education, and work in ways that are
often difficult to trace and measure. To the extent that fandom transcends these
types of social boundaries, Collins (2004) portrait of sports IR chains as somehow
more artificial or nonserious than IR chains in other social contexts is questionable.
Funerals
Steelers solidarity is illustrated in the story of a woman who, at the final request
of her late husband, brought his ashes to a Steelers game at Heinz Field (“N.H.
Woman,” 2007). Her husband never attended a game in his lifetime and was, therefore,
unable to experience peak moments of interaction rituals, but he had been
a devoted fan even from his home in New England. His sons dressed in Steelers
jerseys for his funeral and his body was covered with a Steelers blanket.
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   179
Fandom for her husband was by necessity of geography and economic means
mediated through televised games and team symbols. Despite this mediation and
contrary to what Collins (2004) argued, the man’s identity as a fan constituted a
significant source of meaning. Effectively drawing on the emotional energy embodied
in Steelers symbols and the collective effervescence possible while watching
Steelers games in local sports bars or in homes with other fans, his sense of solidarity
with the team and fan base was high despite the fact that he had never attended a
single Steelers game in person—an experience that Collins suggests is vital.
A second example of fans incorporating Steelers symbols into end-of-life
rituals is the untimely death of Pittsburgh mayor Bob O’Connor. Journalists note
that the mayor’s son
will help escort his father’s casket during the heavy-hearted procession from
Mass to gravesite. Then, prior to the 8:30 p.m. kickoff at Heinz Field, he will
lead the official twirling of Terrible Towels, just as his father led the Steelers
faithful in the incredible playoff run of last season. (Dvorchak, 2006)
A friend of the mayor and devoted Steelers fan described the mayor and other
fans as “all part of the Steeler family […] a lot of our regulars work for the city and
county and will be honor guards at the funeral, so we’ll handle the occasion like a
death in the family” (italics added, Dvorchak 2006). The notion of “family” used
in conjunction with the fan group suggests levels of high solidarity and a blending
of roles (both fan and kin).
This example shows not only the incorporation of Steelers symbols and rituals
into the grieving of a lost loved one and political figure, but word choice communicates
the significance of the Steelers community and their high level of group
solidarity. Describing recent obstacles to tailgating in their customary space, a fan
reports that her
group has been moved several times during stadium and related construction,
but they hope to occupy the same spot as last year. “They keep throwing
obstacles our way. We’ll find a way,” she said. Which is the way the Steeler
Nation, the One Nation, approaches life’s challenges and season openers.
(italics added, Dvorchak, 2006)
The mayor’s son leads the “official twirling of the Terrible Towels” and an
interviewed friend describes Steelers fans as a “family” and “one nation,” collectively
engaging in family and nation activities such as dealing with grief and
facing obstacles together. By comparing fans to family or a nation, the interviewee
implies moral sentiments of devotion and loyalty to the group. Members rely on
group symbols and rituals to grieve, comfort, honor, and persevere.
Weddings
Weddings are also major life events in which fans may draw on the collective
effervescence and emotional energy embodied in symbols and rituals. News articles
described Steelers-themed weddings that incorporated the team’s colors and the
group ritual of twirling Terrible Towels (“Black and Gold,” 2009), a Steelers fight
song (Lavis, 2007), and couples competing for an ESPN-sponsored Steelers-themed
180  Cottingham
wedding (Johnson, 2006). One Pittsburgh couple had their wedding ceremony at a
church, but held the reception at Heinz Field (McMarlin, n.d.). Reasons included:
. . .besides being home to the couple’s favorite football team - were the
lounge’s size and view, the opportunity to have wedding photos taken on the
playing surface and a tour of the Steelers’ locker room for the bridal party.
Tina also wanted favors that people could keep and use, and Terrible Towels
monogrammed with the couple’s names and wedding date certainly fit the bill
(McMarlin, n.d.).
When she used monogrammed Terrible Towels as gifts for guests, the bride
relied on a symbol of group membership that she likely believed would resonate
with her friends and family and would also be useful to them (for later ritual use).
As Collins (2004, p. 97) noted, understanding symbols and their use requires going
beyond the conscious to the “unconscious component” of social behavior. While
the bride may not consciously infuse her blissful day with “borrowed” collective
effervescence and emotional energy, this seems a likely results.Tina’s use ofTerrible
Towels and the placement of the reception at Heinz Field was certainly creative,
but it was also instrumental. Perhaps without realizing it, Tina relied on the positive
and intense emotions associated with these symbols to transfer the meaning and
emotion associated with fandom to their special day. In this regard, Tina and her
groom used these symbols as a form of currency—using the emotions of fandom
embedded in the symbols to bolster the intensity and elation of their wedding. In
other words, the feelings of elation and excitement that wedding attendees will
undoubtedly experience could be partially tied to the evocative Steelers symbols
used rather than solely to the love shared between bride and groom.
Tina and her groom’s decision to use these symbols in celebration of their
wedding—a situation rarely associated with sports fandom—supports the notion
that Steelers fans have a high level of group solidarity, as emotional energy is
drawn from these symbols in settings and situations far removed from their origin.
Discussion and Conclusion
My analysis demonstrates how IR theory (Collins, 2004) can be used to understand
Steelers fan behavior and emotion in three distinct fan settings. Variations in ritual
outcomes across settings are related to differences in ingredients, specifically “barriers
to outsiders” and mutually-focused attention (Collins, 2004). Examples of
fans tailgating and in sports bars revealed levels of group solidarity and emotional
energy that were less intense than those attending the game in the stadium. The
use of membership symbols was pervasive, though the intensity—synchronized,
collective, and emphatic—of these symbols during rituals was greatest among fans
within the stadium. Observed symbols included the combination of the team’s
colors of black and gold and the team’s logo imprinted on all manner of apparel
and merchandise.
The use of group symbols and rituals in settings that lacked heightened ritual
emotion (Collins, 2004), that is, while tailgating and watching games in sports
bars, suggests that Steelers fans as a group share a level of group solidarity that
extends beyond the stadium experience. Devoted fans may even be drawn to these
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   181
settings having never attended a game or experienced the peak emotional rituals
that attending a game affords. Symbols and rituals associated with fandom also go
beyond the stadium experience, as fans draw emotional energy from these symbols
while cooking, eating, drinking, and conversing in more emotionally muted settings.
Steelers symbols and rituals also transcend situations typically associated with
the team and even sports generally. Coping with the loss of a loved one during a
funeral or the celebration of one’s wedding are major life events not often associated
with sport activities or identities. In the case of fans who draw emotional energy
from Steelers symbols and rituals during major life events, the meaning derived is
both collective and personal. As Collins noted:
These are the events that we remember, that give meaning to our personal
biographies […] Where these moments have a high degree of focused awareness
and a peak of shared emotion, these personal experiences, too, can be
crystallized in personal symbols, and kept alive in symbolic replays for greater
or lesser expanses of one’s life. (2004, p. 43)
The level of personal and collective meaning implied here suggests that these
objects and behaviors are able to transcend the situations in which they originate.
To be effective in unrelated situations, symbols must represent a level of group
solidarity that is cohesive and well understood by other group members (Collins,
2004). With collective effervescence and emotional energy embodied in group
symbols, a group’s level of solidarity is no longer solely dependent on specific,
sports-related moments of high intensity ritual.
Tracing the use of these symbols across settings and situations, this study
suggests ways of measuring group solidarity and the maintenance of collective
effervescence across interactions. This technique, while consistent with the assumptions
underlying IR theory (Collins, 2004), could be refined and systematized in
ways that make it applicable to other substantive areas and groups. Phenomena
may be studied from the perspectives of the individuals as well as the group using
methods of participant observation among group members and then tracing the
nature and extent of symbolic movement: the movement of symbols beyond their
situation of origin. Outside the current study, the private behaviors and emotions
enacted and experienced by fans as rituals and symbols might be transmitted into
the home through mediated forms of fandom. Home life may be where most of
the meaning-making process of fandom takes place, combining muted emotional
energy derived from symbols with familial traditions and collective memories. This
may also be a primary space for the socialization of future fans, as parents pass on
rituals and symbols to children. More research on this aspect of fandom, as well as
the use of groups as a unit of analysis in the application of IR theory is necessary.
While the above analysis is limited to data collected on Steelers fans, there
are many reasons to believe that fans of other teams and of other sports enact
ritual chains in similar ways, drawing on emotionally-imbued symbols and using
these symbols outside the stadium and sport context. Steelers fans have a unique
history, geographical location, and tie to their city. While this justified my focus,
the theoretical findings may be applicable to other sports fans. Future research on
other football fans and fans of other sports is needed to compare across fan bases
and the extension of IR theory presented here provides insight into how to conduct
such research. Furthermore, future research should also give greater attention to
182  Cottingham
the many “spaces” of fandom, noting when (before, during, or after a game) and
where (stadium parking lots, local sports bars, distant sports bars, homes) interaction
rituals of varying intensity take place.
My application demonstrates that Collins’ (2004) IR theory can be used to
study sports fans. Using his own theory, the above analysis reveals Collins’ a priori
statements on sports fans as overly simplistic. His portrait of fans as having “no
other purpose” outside of peak “ritual emotion,” symbols incapable of transcending
immediate situations, and weak solidarity contradicts findings from the case study
(2004, p. 59). My data, nevertheless, show that fans congregate and draw emotional
energy from symbols and rituals outside of the peak emotional experience of a game
and in situations that are not specific to football or sports. My findings, while contradicting
Collins’ portrait of fans as having low levels of group solidarity, illustrate
the situational and individually-specific nature of IR theory. Collins’ definition of
fan behavior and emotion located solely within the stadium setting—where peak
ritual emotion occurs—and not in the context of tailgating, sports bars, or living
rooms, is too narrow. In events conveyed through news articles, symbols and rituals
transcend typical fan situations suggesting that by limiting attention to individuals
and situations, Collins failed to adequately account for the degree of group solidarity
provided by membership in this type of informal group.
When one takes the group as the unit of analysis, a richer and more holistic
portrait of fan membership emerges.Without an accurate portrayal of group identity,
understanding the selection of fan group membership when choosing among competing
options remains limited. Individuals attempt to maximize levels of emotional
energy by opting for particular interactions that have a distinct history and context
of group solidarity. Only by capturing the nuanced and emotion-based processes
underlying the experience of group solidarity and identity can sociologists of sport
fully understand the draw of fandom to individuals who may never even attend
a game. Furthermore, attention to the group helps explain the interaction choices
individuals make daily and, by implication, the utility of IR theory for understanding
the underlying processes of complex social phenomena.
Notes
1.	 This became a league record of six Super Bowl titles the season the study was conducted.
2.	 It should be noted that data collection took place before the rape allegations made against
Ben Roethlisberger. It is possible that his role as a symbol and as a sacred object was affected by
these events.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Becky Erickson for her many rounds of valuable feedback throughout
the writing process. I also want to thank Kay Snyder and Val Gunter for their guidance and
support during the initial phases of the project and the two anonymous reviewers and the
editor for their helpful comments. Finally, a special thanks to my informant for his time and
willingness to help with the project.
Ritual Theory and Sports Fans   183
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