As if the year-round rhetoric isn’t tired enough, the NFL postseason brings with it complaints of bandwagon fans.
This year, try something new — stop complaining about bandwagon fans and start thanking them.
A compelling case could be made to say that you should be glad bandwagon fans even exist. As much as you may remain disgruntled that you aren’t winning awards for attending Cardinals games before they started winning, the first-class seats on the bandwagon are filled with the butts that your favorite team’s GM so eagerly longs for.
Contrary to your belief, nobody cares that you liked the Cardinals before they were good.
Winning brings more jersey sales, more ticket sales, more sales of hot dogs and beer and pretzels, bigger TV contracts, more advertising revenue, and the desire of top-dollar free agents to play in your team’s uniform. Winning is profitable.
Without bandwagon fans, winning isn’t profitable.
The proverbial bandwagon is the reason there’s a correlation between a team’s winning percentage and a team’s revenue. It’s the reason Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart signed Zack Greinke for $206.5 million.
If there weren’t any bandwagon fans, your favorite sports teams would casually go through each year, winning games only when it’s cheap and convenient to give a glimmer of hope to the fans who will support the team even if it fails. But in a world where the peanut gallery will hop to the next winning franchise, you better believe that teams want to win.
All of this is without mentioning that nobody seems to have a solution to the bandwagon “problem,” or a definition for who is or isn’t a bandwagoner.
Should you be required to show your Seahawks ticket stubs before calling yourself a fan or buying a Russell Wilson jersey? Must one recite the 2003 Kansas City Royals starting lineup before saying that they are a diehard Royals fan? Does one have to follow the Blackhawks for five years before telling people their favorite athlete is Patrick Kane?
Where do you draw the line for what constitutes the bandwagon and what constitutes the special club of “real” fans?
The answer is that it doesn’t matter. Just watch your favorite team, and if someone else joins you, get over it.
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Reach the assistant sports editor at matthew.layman@asu.edu or follow @Mattjlayman on Twitter.
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