http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/2009/01/30/20090130superfans0130-CP.html
Out-of-state ties test fan loyalties
by Dennis Wagner - Jan. 30, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Tempe insurance agent Mark Davis, born 60 miles west of Pittsburgh, has been a Steelers fan since he was knee-high to a coal miner.
Come Sunday, however, he'll be cheering for the team in red from Arizona.
"This will be the very first time in my 54 years that I'll be rooting against the Steelers," Davis said. "Gotta go for the hometown boys now, the Cardinals. I just switched this week."
Joe Barrella, a 41-year-old Phoenix auto-parts courier, also became part of Steelers Nation as a child, inheriting a rabid loyalty from his grandpa.
Come Sunday, Barrella will be at Harold's Corral in Cave Creek, leading an expected 4,000 Pennsylvania expatriates in chants for the team from Pittsburgh.
"I have two football teams," Barrella said, "the Steelers and anybody who beats the Cardinals. I'm a Cardinals hater."
When it comes to team loyalty, there's nothing like a Super Bowl to separate the fanatic from the fan, the die-hard from the fair-weather follower.
This year's championship is proving especially difficult for Arizonans, most of whom moved here from some other place, with allegiance to some other team.
As a native of Pennsylvania and mayor of Cave Creek, Vincent Francia knows the angst firsthand. This week, he will join longtime friends watching the game at Harold's, cheering with a lonely voice for a Redbirds win.
"I felt it best to declare my allegiance before I confront the terrible gold towels," Francia said, a tad nervously. "It was difficult. I was born in Pittsburgh. There's a lot of natal feeling. But Arizona is my home for 20 years. So, go Cardinals!"
Fans are big business
Psychologists and marketing gurus collectively scratch their heads trying to figure out what makes fans tick and what makes them stick.
Why do some teams boast endless sellouts while others have half-empty stadiums?
Why do some people remain faithful for life, no matter where they live, while others adopt whatever franchise is geographically nearest?
There is a reason for so much interest: money.
Professional-sports franchises spend big bucks figuring out how to attract fans and bring in more cash to ticket windows and concession stands.
The market is huge. In national surveys, two out of three Americans claim to be NFL fans. The Super Bowl magnifies the stakes because it is, uh, the Super Bowl of television advertising.Academic researchers treat spectators almost as lab rats. They write reports on "Fan Affiliation and Tribal Behavior" or "The Role of Cognitive Development and Socialization in the Initial Development of Team Loyalty."
One oft-quoted study by Arizona State University psychology Professor Robert Cialdini began when he noticed that students on campus were more likely to wear Sun Devils jerseys the Monday after a victory.
Cialdini coined the term "BIRGing" - basking in reflective glory - to describe fans who say "we" won after a victory. After defeat, those same people engage in "CORFing" - cutting off reflected failure - and complain that "they" lost.
Other research breaks down the fan experience based on eight factors: self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic interest, aesthetics, group affiliation, family and excitement.
Even sex plays a role. A study at Indiana University found that die-hard fans feel sexier after their team wins. Researchers at the University of Georgia found a correlation between victory and increased testosterone levels.
The experts go on and on, sometimes arguing like Monday-morning quarterbacks.
How did the Dallas Cowboys become "America's Team" while the Cardinals were not even Arizona's team until last month?
Why do the Steelers have fan clubs all over America, while the Cardinals don't even have a fan club in the Valley?
Loyalty tied to emotion
Robert Passikoff, a psychologist and founder of Brand Keys Inc., a consulting company in New York, said the search for logical explanations may fall short. "Loyalty to anything - I don't care if it's a team, a car or a cola - is more emotional than rational."
Nevertheless, Passikoff developed a fan index based on four factors that he says are the keys to dedicated sports spectators: excitement, team integrity, bonding with players and tradition.
Passikoff ranks Steelers fans sixth in loyalty among 32 NFL teams; the Cardinals are No. 18. However, he said, those ratings are likely to change because franchises that make it to championship games typically get a 10 percentage point bump in fan allegiance the next year."Certainly, there's an aspect of 'everybody wants to be associated with a winner,' " he said.
Dan Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University in Kentucky, said what's difficult to fathom is why some fans, such as the Cardinals' or Chicago Cubs', remain loyal through years of their team's misery. There is no correlation with divorce rates, political views or personality traits, he said. "We keep looking. So far, nothing."
Fans welcomed back
Jim Skane of Sun City, who hasn't missed a home Cardinals game since 1992, is one of the hardy few. For years, he managed arizonasportsfans.com for fans trying to escape negative news coverage of the team. The Web site now has new operators.
Skane recalls the Cardinals fan base dropping to about 22,000, but he didn't blame those who defected. "That was during the really dark years, and there were many. The team was terrible."
In the same spirit, Skane said he welcomes fair-weather fans back on the bandwagon and thrills at the sight of a stadium oozing Cardinals colors. "No resentments. Come on board."
Dan Piacquadio, a partner at Harold's Corral, is not so magnanimous about Steelers fans who leave the fold. "Sacrilegious," he said. "If you're a die-hard, you don't switch."
At Harold's, the most zealous fans pay $75 a season to reserve a stool at the bar during Pittsburgh games. They can watch Piacquadio slide through a pyramid of shaving cream when the Steelers win. "It's like one big family," he said.
Barrella, the Cardinals hater, cannot comprehend someone turning his or her back on the family. He was dumbfounded to meet someone during the playoffs who rooted for the Cardinals while wearing a Pittsburgh jersey.
"I said, 'What? You're not a true Steelers fan!' And I walked away. He was dumb."
Davis, the longtime Steelers fan and Tempe resident, makes no apologies. Rather than betrayal, he said, changing teams is a mark of loyalty to his adopted home, Arizona. It just took him a while because the local team stunk.
"But, again, who wants to be associated with 'em when they were losing?" Davis said. "Winning changes everything."
