What Does It Mean to Be a Good Sports Fan?

The 2024 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials was a wild event. In the women’s 1,500-meter run, three athletes ran under 3 minutes and 56 seconds, breaking the Trials record and running the second, third, and fourth fastest times in American history. Sixteen-year-old Quincy Wilson competed against athletes twice his age, qualifying for the men’s 4×400 relay pool. And Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400-meter hurdles world record again—running 50.65 seconds, her fifth world record in the event. On the final night of competition, U.S. Trials records were set in all six track events and one in the women’s javelin.¹

That was a great week to be a track fan. As we head into the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it is an exciting time to be a sports fan in general, track included. Reportedly, 28.6 million viewers tuned in, across various television networks, to watch the Opening Ceremony alone.²

Fandom and character

Being a sports fan is fun, and it can also be morally productive. Fandom can involve the celebration of excellent people—shining a spotlight on the good work that they are doing. In a world inclined toward selfishness, the practice of being a fan—of celebrating the good work of others—offers a needed correction to the self-absorption that plagues us.³

Being a sports fan can involve “an appreciation of particular qualities”—an appreciation often accompanied by loyalty and loving attention.⁴ And being a fan offers practice in being invested in things over which we have no control. Having such a practice, Adam Kadlac writes, is important because “vulnerability, in many forms, is a central feature of the human predicament, and we often care deeply about things over which we have no control.”⁵

So, fandom can be productive. But not all instances of fandom are excellent. As we tune into the Olympic Games, here are a few reminders:

1. Don’t be a mere admirer.

There is a tendency, described by philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, to be mere admirers instead of imitators. We see someone excellent and appreciably perceive him, but remain unaffected. We carry on unchanged. By contrast, an imitator is compelled by the excellent other and acts on what he appreciably perceives. Kierkegaard writes, “An imitator is or strives to be what he admires, and an admirer keeps himself personally detached [and] does not discover that what is admired involves a claim upon him to be or at least to strive to be what is admired.”⁶

This is a good reminder, heading into the Olympic Games. If you see someone who impresses you for their perseverance, fortitude, patience, or commitment, be an imitator. Try to "put on" that excellence, rather than being dazzled, and then carrying on with your day, unchanged.

2. Gossip is at odds with a good character.

Fandom can be a way to lend support to an athlete, building them up or affirming them. It is a means of supporting and participating in excellence, even if we are incapable of accomplishing the same feats ourselves.

One way we sometimes get this wrong is by using idle words or unrestrained speech concerning an athlete. We say mean things or latch onto private information. This is not fandom. It is gossip. Doing so offers practice in being a certain kind of person—uncharitable and unkind.⁷

3. Critical fandom is the goal.

In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, American sprinter Marion Jones was an ascendant figure, running times that seemed too good to be true. They were, in fact, too good to be true. In 2007, she pleaded guilty to steroid use and lying to federal investigators.⁸

Sportspeople, like all other people, sometimes do bad things. The goal of fandom is not to support athletes with uncritical allegiance or to double down in support when they do something wrong. Philosophers Archer and Wojtowicz write that the goal is critical fandom, which allows for loyalty but recognizes that there are limits.⁹

Sometimes being a good fan means no longer lending a voice of support to an athlete who cheats, has an outsized ego, or whose actions misalign with the kind of world we want to live in.

Final thoughts

Being a fan is fun, and it can be a productive practice, inclining us to celebrate the good work of others.

But there are good and bad ways to be a fan. Considering that many of us are devoted spectators of the Olympics and otherwise, we should examine our habits of praise and investigate whether our fandom is at odds with a good character.