ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the long-standing and highly developed sociology of sport fandom, which itself is a core field of sport sociology. The debates in sport sociology and sport history about the utility of sharply demarcating modern sport from those sport-like physical contests in eras before has generated similar debates about spectators and fans. Fans represent the fondest hopes and worst fears of a sport capitalist. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to fan violence across sports comparatively because there appears to be little correlation between fan violence and on-field violence. Organized sports participation and spectatorship are still overwhelmingly male, at least in the aggregate. There is a desperate and deep-rooted gender bias that still works against women’s sport, female athletes, and female fans. Sport fans and their worlds exhibit the common features of modern fandoms.
