Have you ever gone to your high school’s football game, visited your favorite team’s stadium, or watched the Olympics from home to support your country? If you’re not an avid sports fan yourself, you know someone who is, and you’re aware of how passionate their teams can make them. Where does this passion come from? Why can we so easily connect with strangers wearing our favorite jerseys? Why be a sports fan in the first place?

The Fan Stand focuses on the fans themselves and their stories, highlighting the feelings of community, identity, and belonging that occur because of their fandom. Through both personal interviews and submissions from fans around the country, the website paints a picture of how sports fandom can positively impact a person’s life. In addition to hearing from the fans personally, a series of short, animated explainer videos talk about research concepts regarding sports fandom. For example, explaining two types of fan behavior known as “BIRGing” and “CORFing” and why they occur.

The topic of sports in general can be very overwhelming and even negative for many, so by implementing friendly, approachable language and imagery (provided by the fans!) throughout the site, as well as an overall appealing visual language, it is a resource both fans and non-fans can learn from.