SPL fandoms: a study into persevering fandoms

Abstract

The Singapore Premier League’s (SPL) popularity has been waning throughout the years. Once a popular past-time for football fans throughout Singapore, fan support for the league has since dwindled. Despite this, some fans remain steadfast in their support of the league, religiously attending matches and lending their support to their favourite teams in-person and online. As such, this paper will analyse the reasons behind their lasting passion for the SPL, with an overarching aim of understanding how certain members of dying fandoms around the world remain passionate and unaverred.

16 male SPL fans from a wide range of ages were interviewed, and our research revealed that factors such as habitus, the ability to provide an imagined community in light of wider societal issues, and nationalism played a big role in fandom participation. Furthermore, our study also looked at why the fandom was male-dominated, and how that played an additional role in its appeal.