It was a boisterous night in Philadelphia on Feb. 9 when Dan Starke, a freshman studying sports journalism, marched down Broad Street. Fans decked out in green were packed shoulder to shoulder so tightly that he couldn't see past the person in front of him.
"Yo dude, let me get on your shoulders," Starke said to his friend. "I want to see."
Garbage trucks barricaded the area, enclosing thousands of Eagles fans to one street.
"Eventually, it got to the point where fans couldn't even move," Starke said. "I climbed on top of a garbage truck, and then my friend climbed a pole."
Unlike the Eagles' Super Bowl win in 2018, the Philadelphia police refrained from pulling fans off the poles while cheers and loud noises erupted throughout the night.
At sporting events, there are several different types of fans, which typically fall under three categories: casual fans, bandwagon fans and die-hard fans. Casual fans attend a few games and may not show enthusiasm the entire time — they make up the majority. Bandwagon fans are supporters because a team or player is performing well, but when the team loses, they are hastily off to the next team.
"Going to all of the games, traveling wherever the team goes, being there and supporting them," Branden Tsethlikai, a 37-year-old die-hard Eagles fan, said. "To me, that’s what a die-hard fan (is)."
Sports have the power to unite people of all backgrounds and also tear them apart. Historically, people have participated in sports for around 15,000 years, documented by cave drawings of wrestling matches and races. From the first ancient Olympics in 776 BCE in Greece to the gladiator games from 105 BCE to 405 CE in Rome, to soccer in 1800s England, sports have evolved, but one thing remains the same: their respective die-hard fanbases.
Tsethlikai is from the Zuni Pueblo reservation in New Mexico. Since New Mexico doesn't have professional sports teams and his family wasn't keen on sports, Tsethlikai didn’t become a sports fan until middle school, when he began playing and watching football.
"I became a big fan of the Philadelphia Eagles around 2000 because I liked the colors, the whole idea of the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, and what the eagle represents and symbolizes," Tsethlikai said.
Starke became a die-hard Eagles and Philadelphia Flyers fan in eighth grade during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was "nothing to watch." Influenced by his dad, a devout Flyers fan, Starke became one too.
Both Starke and Tsethlikai feel differently about violence in the Eagles' fan base.
"Most Philly sports fans already have a bad rap for things that have happened 20 to 30 years ago," Starke said. "I still think that is a little ridiculous for people, like 'Oh, you threw snowballs at Santa Claus.'"
The Eagles are generally known for having a "passionate" fanbase, according to Starke.
"People tell me, '(Sports fans) from Philly are crazy or they're ridiculous,' Starke said. "We just have passion."
Tsethlikai connected with the Eagles West fan club at Rockbar in Scottsdale.
"It was a good feeling to go there and know there are other Eagles fans," Tsethlikai said.
Starke usually hears opposing fans swear at each other, but has not seen physical violence at a sporting event.
"I have seen videos when the Eagles won the Super Bowl of people starting fires," Starke said. "I didn't personally witness it, but it definitely does happen."
Tsethlikai's experience as an Eagles fan who is physically distant from Philadelphia remains steady.
"Even when the Eagles came out here to State Farm Stadium, I never saw or experienced any hostility or violent acts," Tsethlikai said.
When Reddit users in the r/ASU community were asked about violence at sporting events, one user responded saying:
"Violence has no place in sports and rivalries... though an exception in the case of UofA might be made," an anonymous Reddit user said. "In the 1986 Territorial Cup, UofA beat ASU, spoiling their undefeated season and keeping them (temporarily) from the Rose Bowl. As if the taunts from the UofA fans in the stands weren't enough, UofA fans had the audacity to rush OUR field and try to take the goal posts. Collective groans and audible sighs turned to wild cheers as the police and DPS, both foot and mounted units, set upon their students with batons and tear gas. A nice little concession for a truly sad day."
Mob mentality
Throughout millennia, fans continue to show up to support their teams, but with this passion comes conflict.
"At the end of the day, you need your fans to buy into the rivalry. There needs to be a starting point that ignites it," Mihir Sinhasan, a senior studying sports journalism, said.
Many rivalries are geographically based, like the rivalry between ASU and UA. Some rivalries are based on where the majority of fans live, with many BYU fans located in the Valley. other rivalries may even be politically motivated, according to Sinhasan.
His family immigrated to the United States from India, where the most popular sport is cricket. India and Sri Lanka are set to host the cricket world cup in 2026.
"India and Pakistan have the biggest rivalry in all of cricket because of the political differences they've had over the past 75 to 80 years," Sinhasan said. "A lot of the disputes that they have in politics translate to sports."
If Pakistan makes the final, Sri Lanka will host it, due to India and Pakistan's intense rivalry.
Recently, ASU football started a rivalry with BYU. Tension increased between the teams when Sun Devil fans rushed the field one second early during the second-to-last 2024 regular season game. With both teams' recent move to the Big 12 Conference and many BYU fans living in Arizona, the rivalry continues to grow.
Sinhasan witnessed some ASU fans taunting BYU fans and their players, while most rushed the field.
Although unruly sports fans are a minority compared to all sports fans, they may seem like the majority due to their news coverage and their social media presence.
"BYU fans have started telling themselves, 'Hey, ASU fans are not good. If they win, they're going to be rowdy,' in Tempe, a very big party school," Sinhasan said. "It shows in their fans."
Groups of fans and players tend to follow a leader, according to the Harvard Business Review.
"The coach is usually the (leader), because the coach will talk to the players during practice and during their film sessions and say, 'Hey, this rivalry has history.
The people care about this rivalry, we should care about it as much as they do, because it's deep and it's historic,'" Sinhasan said.
The dark side of die-hard fans
Die-hard fans will often get tattoos of their favorite teams, name their kids after their favorite players, spend thousands of dollars on their teams and sometimes, even participate in violence.
Alisia (Giac-Thao) Tran is an ASU associate professor in the School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology with a focus on student athletes and minorities.
"Sports are meant to connect people and give them a sense of exhilaration, but they're not meant to threaten and create violence," Tran said.
In a 2023 survey by Sportsbook Review, 39% of NFL fans said they witnessed crimes at or around a stadium, including physical violence and public intoxication. Factors such as alcohol and mobile sports betting have led to higher rates of violence at sporting events.
Eighty-four percent of Americans say they drink alcohol while watching football, according to the Harris Poll.
"I never went to a Bengals game in Cincinnati (as a kid) because of the fights that happen and you’re in a situation where people may be drunk," Sinhasan said.
Alcohol consumption at sporting events is common and even encouraged by the team partners and advertisements.
"There's a million advertisements for alcohol everywhere around the arena," Starke said. "They (vendors) are walking up and down between the stands, selling alcohol too."
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts found the Dallas Cowboys made $36 million in profit from alcohol sales in 2022. Alcohol sales often drive the highest profit margin for teams, about 90%.
Alongside increased alcohol consumption, mobile sports betting has surged in the past eight years. The Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May 2018, which prevented sports betting from expanding. Sports betting is now legal in 38 states.
Tsethlikai, who works at an Arizona casino, witnesses customers bet on sports every day.
"(When they lose a bet) it's just the usual: swearing, cussing and ripping up their bet slips," he said.
Research published in the National Library of Medicine found that domestic violence rates can increase by 10% after an upset loss, with a University of Oregon study saying this increase is highlighted more in states with mobile sports betting apps.
"People's testosterone (levels) will raise when they're (just) making a bet on a coin toss," Tran said.
Dopamine "feel good" levels also increase while sports betting, according to Tran. The wins can feel great, but the losses after a sports bet may lead to intimate partner violence (IPV) in a few cases.
"IPV can really (highlight) how people justify or rationalize a behavior," Tran said. For example, someone may say to their partner, "'All the alcohol made me do it. You talked when I told you not to.'"
Most studies regarding violence at sporting events pertain to football, a full-contact men's sport.
However, unruly behavior at women's sports also occurs. For example, during several WNBA games in the 2025 season, people threw sex toys at players, sparking backlash.
MJ Simpson is a Phoenix native and former Phoenix Mercury hip-hop dancer from 1997 to 2001.
"Those young men who were part of the cryptocurrency world, who were dared to do it, really soiled the experience that the WNBA protects and has, which is that this is a family-friendly sport," Simpson said.
Simpson said throughout her 28 years of being a Mercury fan, she has never witnessed violence at the games. The WNBA, which caters more to women and LGBTQ+ individuals, has created a "safe space," according to Simpson's friend.
"When I went to the last Cardinals game, I swore I was never going back," Simpson said. "I felt like there was too much alcohol and too much testosterone for way too big of a crowd."
Around 45% of women do not feel comfortable alone at their NFL team's stadium, according to Trine University.
Some fans feel safe in a family environment, while others savor the rivalries.
"I enjoy the game more when everyone's going crazy," Starke said. "Even if we lose, if we're energetic about it, it’s fun!"
Ultimately, die-hard sports fans watch sports for a reason.
"We watch sports to let go of everything else that's going on in our lives, for us to take a break and to just relax," Sinhasan said. "That's the beauty of sports, because we can all unite (around) that one thing."
Edited by Leah Mesquita, Natalia Jarrett and Abigail Wilt. This story is part of The Herd Issue, which was released on November 5, 2025. See the entire publication here.
Reach Bella Keenan at akeenan4@asu.edu and follow her on Instagram @bellakeenanreports.
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Bella Keenan is a magazine reporter, exploring prominent topics in long-form writing. She is a second-year journalism and mass communication major specializing in sports. Bella hopes to share unique perspectives in her reporting.
