Sixteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

How does the evolution of German soccer clubs from regional anchors into global commodities leave room for all their supporters to become a full part of a community beyond the imagined? Both clubs at the very top, like Borussia Dortmund, and others struggling for recognition in lower levels, like Hertha BSC Berlin, have seen their international following grow exponentially over recent years. And supporters’ club allegiances as well as their takes on the previous weekend’s fixtures are relived and shared virtually 24/7 in online environments around the globe. Against this globalizing dynamic, local supporters often express certain resistance and stake claims of involvement that exclude remote fans. By focusing on the notion that participation in game day performances by fans (tifos; blason populaire; fan marches; etc.), led above all by Ultra groups, is seen as requisite by both local and global fans for attaining full status as ‘one of us,’ this paper focuses on the theatricality of stadium experiences as passionately performed and choreographed 90-minute ‘operas’ and, more importantly, as lived moments of (regional) history. Through analysis of fan online discourse (at once an extension of what Tim Crabbe (2006) calls the vernacular culture and a part of the cultural industry) alongside consideration of in-stadium dynamics driven by chants and choreo, this paper argues that supporters of teams that are becoming global commodities (i.e. fans consume them everywhere) accept and promote that only through local participation being a part of the fabric of true fans is seen as possible.