The Big Three: Examining the Relationship Between Fanaticism, Sports Team Evangelism and Hooliganism

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of fanaticism, sports team evangelism and hooliganism of football fans living in Erzurum and to examine the relationship between these concepts. The research group consists of fans residing in Erzurum and aged 18 and over. “Personal Information Form” was used to determine the demographic information of the fans, “Sports Team Emotional Attachment Scale” was used to determine the levels of fanaticism, “Sports Team Evangelism Scale” was used to determine the levels of sports team evangelism, and “Aggression Scale in Sports” was used to determine the levels of hooliganism. After the normality analyses of the data, t-test was applied in paired group comparisons, Anova test was applied in multiple group comparisons, and Pearson correlation analysis was applied to determine the relationships between the variables. There was a high positive relationship between fanaticism and sports team evangelism; It was found that there was a positive and low-level relationship between fanaticism and hooliganism and a positive and low level relationship between sports team evangelism and hooliganism. As a result, it was concluded that fans with high levels of fanaticism had a low level of hooliganism attitude, while fans with high levels of sports team evangelism had a low level of hooliganism attitude. However, it was determined that sports team evangelist fans have a higher level of hooliganistic attitude compared to fanatic fans.