ABSTRACT
There are billions of people worldwide who are interested in sport as fans and spectators, specifically consuming sport from a non-participatory standpoint. People attend sport events as spectators; consume sport through variety of mediums (TV, internet, smartphones, radio); purchase merchandise representing teams, leagues and countries; consume concessions at the games and matches; and discuss it with family, friends and complete strangers; among many other behaviours. Men’s Soccer World Cup 2014 attendance exceeded 3.4 million people in sixty-four matches (FIFA World Cup, 2014) and 111.5 million people watched the 2014 Super Bowl on TV (Super Bowl XLVIII, 2014). Sport spectating can bring people to the highest of highs (an estimated 700,000 fans lining the streets of Seattle in February for a parade for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks; Bien, 2014) to the lowest of lows (Brazilian men’s soccer fans being absolutely devastated when the home team lost 7–1 at home to Germany in the semi-final of the World Cup in 2014; Borden, 2014). What, however, explains all of this behaviour? What explains why people consume sport?
