Student Superfans: The Favorite Sports of South

LAS VEGAS —  Students at South CTA may all seem different, but there's something that many find in common, sports, as of now there's a wide variety, but they have been around for decades, some centuries. They play a major part of people's lives whether they play a sport or they’re a fan, many have been a fan for years or their whole lives for many reasons. There's a wide variety of professional leagues in a variety of countries. Major leagues include the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, PWHL, WNBA, and many more. People from every background, all ages, and all genders take a liking to professional sports. Many students and staff members here at South are fans with many also playing or have played sports. 

Professional sports have been seen to affect the fans mood based on if the team won or lost, this has been scientifically proven. Such as, when a team scores, it makes its fans happy, wins trigger happiness while losses can cause disappointment or sadness, and fans often connect their identities with their team. After sports games, whether it's preseason, regular season, or playoffs, moods when a team loses are always low. These leagues, having an average of 31 teams, have brought people closer and even helped people make new friends or even just within the sport. People can become fans of these sports in a variety of ways; however, many people are born into sports families. With the information gathered from interviews, many became a fan because of a family member such as a parent. 

Matthew Hiris said “NHL mainly when I was six because I started to play hockey and I got into it because [of] the Vegas Golden Knights,” and he continued with, “and NFL, I’ve always been a fan of NFL.”

Based on interviews, the most popular league was the NFL, National Football League. This league has been around for a little over one hundred years. There are 32 teams in the NFL, unlike many other professional leagues having franchises in both the U.S. and Canada, the NFL only has teams in the U.S. Some teams mentioned in these interviews are the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and the Buffalo Bills. Some other leagues mentioned in these interviews were the NBA, NHL, UFC, and F1. There wasn’t a theme with favorite players as people all liked different teams therefore different players, but there are players who many fans of leagues like, such as Patrick Mahomes (NFL), Shohei Ohtani (MLB), Steph Curry (NBA), Sidney Crosby (NHL), and Oscar Piastri (F1). However, with them being the most liked, none of our interviewees mentioned them. As Ben Sarafin said when asked his favorite player, “Josh Allen, Josh Allen is my GOAT.” 

Professional sports can impact someone's life for the better and for the worse, whether they’re a fan, or a friend or family member of a fan. If someone is a “diehard” fan, people may view them weirdly because of how they act about the sport. However professional sports bring people from all backgrounds together and we should appreciate the connections fans can make throughout the sports.