When the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, one of the first remarks from the radio commentator Mike Quick was: “Grease up the poles!”
He knew what he was talking about. After the game, fans took to the streets to celebrate, with some lighting fires, flipping over cars and, yes, climbing utility poles, greased or not.
It happened again in Philadelphia last month after the Eagles won the N.F.C. championship game. There were more than 30 arrests, including several for assault on police officers, as fans celebrated. A teenager died after falling from a pole.
It’s not just Philly. Angelenos set a bus on fire and threw fireworks at the police last fall after the Dodgers won the World Series.
During a celebration of the San Francisco Giants’ World Series win in 2014, some people threw bottles at police officers, and there were shootings and stabbings. In the early 1990s, Bulls fans in Chicago rioted after each of three straight championships, leading to hundreds of arrests.
There could be more fan unrest in Philadelphia or Kansas City, Mo., after teams from those cities meet in the Super Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans.
How and why do celebrating fans sometimes turn to violence and troublemaking after big games?
‘Mob mentality’ can be powerful.
After a big win, fans like to be together. Most just want to show support, but those who cross the line may be motivated by several factors.
“It’s a sort of mob mentality,” said Brandon Podgorski, the program director of sports leadership at Abilene Christian University, who has studied fan violence in the United States.
“You want to be around others who care like you do and feel the same about your team as you do,” Dr. Podgorski said. “This often happens in public places and, unfortunately, public property is damaged in the process.”
Why does being in a crowd change how people behave?
Fans might be emboldened by the anonymity a crowd provides.
They are “less likely to be identified in a big group, and then do things they would typically not do alone,” said Jason Lanter, a professor of psychology at Kutztown University who has studied fan violence.
Others might be caught up in social contagion: The idea to cause damage or act violently spreads through a group, and others join just to fit in.
“Part of it is showing off,” Dr. Lanter said, “part is getting caught up with the actions of the group and part is not thinking about what they are actually doing.”
And some may be looking for a sense of belonging. “Many fans engage in this violence to demonstrate how much of a fan they are,” Dr. Lanter said.
Some believe the behavior to be “indicative of a greater allegiance to the team.”
Agitated fans are mostly men.
Experts agree that the bulk of the violence is instigated by men. To start, men make up a majority of sports fans, and a majority of violent actors in other situations.
And sports violence is particularly associated with men. Dr. Podgorski said that close identification with a team and increased violence were more closely linked with men, and especially young men. “I don’t believe this is completely isolated to men,” he said, “but these emotions to physically act out do not seem as strong in women.”
Winners seem to misbehave more than losers.
In 2011, fans in Vancouver who were disappointed after a loss in the Stanley Cup finals to the Boston Bruins threw bottles, looted downtown stores, fought and set fires. Hundreds of people were eventually arrested. But that was an exception. Fan rampages more often seem to occur after wins.
“Men’s testosterone levels actually increase after their team’s win,” Dr. Podgorski said. “Combine that with a euphoric social contagion and the need to release this pent-up energy, it’s easy to see why men act out after a big win.”
Men’s testosterone levels can decrease after a loss in an important game, Dr. Podgorski said, leading to a feeling like depression. That might reduce an urge to participate in violence.
Alcohol is often a factor.
Videos of fans being boisterous or even violent after games often show many of them exhibiting telltale signs of intoxication.
Experts cited alcohol as one of the main drivers for violence after games. Other factors include the game’s importance to the team and its start time; later games are more likely to be followed by violence, perhaps in part because that gives fans more time to drink.
Are some places more susceptible to violence than others?
Data shows that violence is more likely to occur in large cities than in more rural areas, because larger crowds can form.
“I would also assume that smaller and more rural areas have strong cultural ties that would limit unruly behavior,” Dr. Podgorski said. “These are people you have to live and work with every day.”
Fan rioting is different around the world.
The phenomenon of fan violence in other countries, notably at soccer matches, is very different. It is more often planned than spontaneous. “It is rare to see fan rioting in the U.S. be premeditated,” Dr. Podgorski said. “It is usually sparked by some type of external event.”
Seldom does much time pass between incidents somewhere in the world: There were battles between rival fans in Germany on Nov. 30 and clashes between fans and the police in Guinea the next day, for example.
Sports violence overseas is much more likely to include confrontations between rival groups of fans. “Football hooliganism is a territorial issue, where fans of one team are legitimately fighting fans of another team to demonstrate superiority,” Dr. Lanter said.
Can it be stopped?
The police in Philadelphia and Kansas City are acutely aware that the Super Bowl could rile up fans. The Kansas City police are bringing in additional officers “for whatever may happen,” said Capt. Jacob P. Becchina, a spokesman for the Police Department. He added: “Kansas City is generally peaceful as compared to what some other cities have seen.”
The police in Philadelphia did not respond to a request for comment on plans for this weekend.
Part of the challenge for the police is that the troublemakers who get involved in sports unrest might not be typical criminals. “The passion someone has for their team, combined with a charged environment, can cause people to act in ways they may not otherwise,” Dr. Podgorski said.
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