Fans and spectators build community, support sports, and enjoy the camaraderie and excitement that athletics can bring. However, historically and presently, fans have also been perpetrators of misconduct and abuse in sporting environments across the world. Whether impulsive, reactive, or intended to harm, fans' actions in person and online can jeopardize the safety and health of sports participants and the sanctity of sports as a whole.
Who are the victims?
Anyone in any role in any sport can experience abuse. Most commonly, victims of abuse from fans or spectators are elite athletes (college or professional), referees or officials, coaches, managers, and other fans.
Fan and spectator abuse often occurs in major team sports such as soccer, football, basketball, tennis, and rugby. But it can and does happen in sports like softball, and more individual sports, like gymnastics and golf. And instances can happen at youth sporting events, in which parents may also be involved, for example, at this Florida baseball game.
What types of abuse?
Abuse perpetrated by fans towards athletes, coaches, officials, and other fans can be verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual. It can be discriminatory in nature, sexist, homophobic, or racist. It can be belittling, mocking, sarcastic, or threatening.1 It can include fighting, throwing objects, destroying property, or stalking, as this Badminton athlete experienced. It can be interpersonal or collective, meaning perpetrators can band together, as seen recently during a riot at the Africa Cup of Nations.
In sports, often these types of abuse overlap and intersect. These forms of abuse can be perpetrated online and in person and occur before, during, like this assault against a wrestling referee, or after an athletic competition, season, or current event.
What are the impacts?
Like any form of trauma, the impacts of experiencing abuse or misconduct are highly personal.
When athletes are the victims of fan abuse, in person or online, there can be negative consequences on their physical and mental health, their reputation personally and professionally, potentially impacting their career. They may become silent in response to the abuse, and their performance may decrease.2 Some athletes will take time off, delete their social media accounts, or have a manager run their accounts. They may even retire or take a step back from sport.
When referees or officials are the victims of fan abuse, they can also experience negative consequences on their physical and mental health. One study of football referees noted that when subjected to verbal abuse, referees may have a “loss of concentration, performance, and motivation.”3 They may also leave their profession. Collectively, this can lead to shortages of officials, as seen across youth sports in America, and consequently, canceled games.
For all sporting communities and society, abuse by fans and spectators creates unsafe athletic environments for all participants and attendees. Research indicates that “an aggressive atmosphere generated in the stands may trigger potentially violent situations on the field.”4 And, in fear, fans may leave the sporting area. This is further exemplified by a 2023 survey of NFL Stadium attendees, in which more than a third of women reported not feeling safe attending a game alone, and more than a third of fans said they would not feel comfortable leaving a woman alone outside the stadium.
Why does this happen?
The only person responsible for perpetrating abuse is the perpetrator. Many internal and external factors may lead someone to perpetrate abuse. For fans and spectators, the following circumstances may contribute:
- Attachment to a sports team or athlete – When being a fan is part of one’s identity, the “grounded attachments to athletes and teams can provoke maladaptive emotional responses and behaviors when the athlete fails to meet their expectations.”5
- Dehumanization6 – Fans may feel distance or separation from the person they are talking to or about, who is indeed a real person.
- Historical trends/normalization – Fans may be accustomed to abuse and misconduct, and view it as tolerated, normal, or even expected at a sporting venue.7
- Rivalries8 – Sports rivalries inherently separate people socially, othering one group, which can create animosity and lead to rivalry-driven violence among fans.
- Carnivalesque theory9 – Sports can and are often framed as acting in a different sphere or realm of society, and thus are culturally separate. In these spaces, societal norms are loosened, and subcultures arise.
- Impulsive catharsis10 – Online, fans may use social media to express feelings of anger, frustration, and tension.
- Sports Betting – Increased sports betting has led to more fan abuse, with fans most often upset when an athlete’s performance ruins their bet. The Athletic’s 2025 poll “asked 133 baseball players whether legalized sports betting has ‘changed how fans treat you or your teammates,’ 78 percent answered yes.” And, the 2025 NCAA study found that “36% of Division I men's basketball student-athletes reported experiencing social media abuse related to sports betting within the last year.”
- Ineffective tools and policies11 – Organizations and institutions may have some proactive policies or tools to support athletes (or may defer responsibility to other entities, like the government or social media companies), but these strategies are not yet working at mitigating online abuse, especially for marginalized and female athletes.
- Alcohol consumption12 – “Numerous studies have identified an increase in violence and criminal activity relating to alcohol consumption at sporting events.”13
And, perhaps, fans and spectators can, or believe they can, get away with enacting abuse or misconduct, especially online.
What is being done about the issue?
To combat and mitigate abuse and misconduct by sports fans and spectators, organizations, legislators, and researchers are working to protect sporting participants and the sanctity of the sporting environment. These strategies include:
- Facilities having fans acknowledge a code of conduct that outlines prohibited behavior, for example, at Lincoln Financial Field and at the Blue Jays’ ballpark.
- Enacting legislation that makes it illegal to harm a referee or official, or imposing gambling penalties.
- Creating reporting lines at events for fans to call in misconduct and abuse during games.
- Organizations are instilling social media protection services, such as FIFA SMPS or Tennis’ Threat Matrix, to monitor, report, and block harmful content online.
- Organizations stepping away from social media altogether, like Swim Ireland, are trying to protect their athletes.
What can you do to help?
Everyone has a role to play in ending abuse in sports. Lots of fans want increased security, and research recommends improvements, including enhanced hotspot monitoring and training security personnel in de-escalation techniques.
Organizations — advocate for these enhanced security measures at your events. Play an announcement before the game reminding everyone of the code of conduct. Make it a requirement for fans to acknowledge this code of conduct when purchasing tickets, and post it throughout the facility. And, set your athletes up with mental health resources, professional social media training, and gambling harm minimization or sports wagering education.14
Officials — focus on self-care and utilizing communication and psychological resources to support your wellbeing.15
Parents — teach and model respect.16 Your kids are the next generation, sculpting and participating in sports and broader society.
Everyone — gamble and drink responsibly. Remember, your actions can impact others, and if you need help, resources are available. Create positive fan dynamics based on care and support that respect all athletes and teams, and engage in safe, active bystander intervention.
If you or someone you know needs support, please visit our Crisis Resources or Resources for assistance.
Kathryn McClain, MSW, MBA
Program and Partnerships Director at #WeRideTogether
kmcclain@weridetogether.today
Citations
- Meggs & Ahmed, 2021
- Fan violence, abuse affects player safety – FIFPRO report, 2024
- Devís-Devís, Serrano-Durá, & Molina, 2021
- Devís-Devís, Serrano-Durá, & Molina, 2021
- Meggs & Ahmed, 2021
- Meggs & Ahmed, 2021
- Madensen & Eck, 2008
- Grodecki & Rookwood, 2025
- Grodecki & Rookwood, 2025
- Meggs & Ahmed, 2021
- Williams et al., 2025
- Orfanidou & Panagıotou, 2025
- Hall et al., 2016
- Meggs & Ahmed, 2021
- Devís-Devís, Serrano-Durá, & Molina, 2021
- Devís-Devís, Serrano-Durá, & Molina, 2021
References
- Devís-Devís, J., Serrano-Durá, J., & Molina, P. (2021). “The referee plays to be insulted!”: An exploratory qualitative study on the Spanish football referees’ experiences of aggression, violence, and coping. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 656437. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656437
- Fan violence, abuse affects player safety — FIFPRO report. (2024, January 11). ESPN. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39285266/fan-violence-abuse-affects-theirplayer-safety-fifpro-report
- Grodecki, M., & Rookwood, J. (2025). Why does fan violence persist in football? Football rivalries ideology, the reproduction of football-related violence and its everyday dimensions. Deviant Behavior, Online First, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2528088
- Hall, S. A., Filce, R., & Phillips, D. (2016). Stadium alcohol management: A best practices approach. International Journal of Sport Management, Recreation & Tourism, 21(c), 48–65. https://www.ijsmart.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/vol21_c_Stacey-A.-Hall.pdf
- Madensen, T. D., & Eck, J. E. (2008). Spectator violence in stadiums (Guide No. 54). Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, Arizona State University. Retrieved from https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz3631/files/problems/PDFs/spectator_violence.pdf
- Meggs, J., & Ahmed, W. (2024). Applying cognitive analytic theory to understand the abuse of athletes on Twitter. Managing Sport and Leisure, 29(1), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2021.2004210
- Orfanidou, A.G., & Panagıotou, N. (2025). Exploring Factors Associated With Violence and Antisocial Behavior In Sports Stadiums. Habitus Toplumbilim Dergisi. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/habitus/article/1588451
- Williams, A., Fielding-Lloyd, B., Newman, J., & Deller, R. (2025). Sports organisations’ responses to social media abuse against professional sportswomen in UK team sports. Communication & Sport. https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795251366402
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