2024/08/01 by Tobias Finger, Jonas Biel, Daniel Stockemer +6 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Sports, Gender, and Society #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Sports Analytics and Performance
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/cep4.70003
ABSTRACT The formation of European identities is a pivotal issue for the cohesion of the European community in times of multiple crises. Based on theories of identity formation through habitualisation, we posit that football fandom—a ubiquitous, emotional, strongly Europeanised activity in everyday life—holds unique potential for fostering a sense of a shared European identity. Football fandom provides habitual contact, interaction and experiences of Europe, shaping fans' European identity formations. We use new representative survey data from four European countries (Germany, Norway, Poland, and Spain) to examine the relationship between football fandom and various dimensions of European identity. The results largely support our hypotheses, demonstrating that football fans exhibit stronger attachments to Europe and the EU, greater support for European integration and a more positive assessment of EU membership than non‐fans.