Sports fans’ behaviors — and physiology — can change with their teams’ performance + Global media had a rough year
Our affiliation with sports teams is just another ego-boosting mechanism: Sports fans are more likely to brag about their team and wear clothing or accessories with the team’s logo or colors — to clearly assert affiliation with the team — when their team lands a victory, studies have shown. That likelihood of displaying affiliation drops off significantly when the team loses, the studies found. The outcome of sporting events also tends to affect fans’ vernacular, with researchers finding that fans are likely to refer to their team as a group they are part of, using terms like “we” and “us,” whereas the fans of losing teams tend to distance themselves by referring to the teams as “they.” Research has found that the outcomes of sporting events can even affect fans’ physiology, with fans more likely to have elevated testosterone levels following successes.
These findings are far from new: The behaviors — known as “basking in reflected glory” for winning teams and “cutting off reflected failure” for losing teams — were described in a 1976 study. “These behaviors are all interconnected and they all have to do with self esteem,” an associate professor of sports administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told the Washington Post. This mindset can also be seen beyond sports — in political elections, brand loyalty, and any other forms of affiliations.
Unessential viewing: The global media industry was one of the hardest-hit sectors this year, with more than USD 500 bn wiped off the market value of the biggest companies, the Financial Times reports. The slump hit traditional broadcasters and streamers alike, with familiar favorites Netflix, Disney, Spotify, and Roku amongst those reporting declining market value. While the pandemic initially boosted subscriptions to entertainment services, the subsequent creation of new options flooded the market. And raising subscription prices are not making up for falling customer numbers. Now operating in a competitive sector alongside a cost-of-life crisis leading customers and advertisers to tighten their wallets, media companies are looking to increase prices, cut jobs and input new ad-supported tiers.