Unifying Power of Sport Fandom

Through previous research, it was known that sport has many physical and non-physical benefits to participants and is a powerful tool used to bring people together in light of social and political differences. However, little was known about the impact of sport fandom on feelings of social connectedness. The purpose of this study was to further the understanding of feelings of social connectedness in sport fandom within the context of the current polarized political environment in the United States. Survey methodology was used to capture demographics and other variables including political identity and behaviors, sport fandom identity and behaviors, and feelings of social connectedness. The survey was distributed on Twitter through the use of relevant hashtags and also sent to students, faculty, and staff at St. John Fisher College. Results found that there was a significant relationship between ratings of sport fandom identity and behaviors and reported feelings of social connectedness. There was also found to be a significant predictive relationship between the grand means of sport and politics to the grand mean of social connectedness. The results of this research study added support for the use sport and sport fandom as tools for bringing people together within a polarized society as these findings suggested that sport fandom was a strong unifying tool that transcended the divided sociopolitical culture of the US today