The Structurization and Institutionalization of the Social World of Soccer Fans, and the Consequences

The author analyzes the segmentation and institutionalization of the social world of soccer fans in the context of global economic and cultural changes. He refers to the literature on the subject to present the genesis of this sport and the descriptions that have been made of its fans. In the empirical part, he views the fan phenomenon in Poland on the basis of press and internet materials, casual interviews with fans of the Łódź Sports Club, and fan behavior in stadiums (the ‘framework’). Institutionalization and structurization in the social setting of Polish soccer fans are considered in connection with the economic and institutional changes after 1989 and global changes in the world of culture and the media. He proposes a typology of fans—the participants in the social world of soccer. He claims that the institutionalization of this world is underway but that organizing fans into associations is having a different impact on fan culture and the social world beyond than was earlier expected