Spectator Behaviour (AQA GCSE Physical Education (PE))

Revision Note

Cara Head

Author

Cara Head

Expertise

Biology

Spectator Behaviour

  • Spectator involvement in sports has increased dramatically in recent years

  • This has led to both positive and negative influences effects on sporting events

Positive effects of spectator behaviour

  • Spectators help create an atmosphere at sporting events; cheering, chanting and applauding can all encourage a team and performers may respond by raising their performance level

  • When playing home events, the home team or player receives much more support than the opposition; this is called a home-field advantage

Negative effects of spectator behaviour

  • There is increased pressure on players to perform; this can negatively affect the performance of players even when crowd noise is positive

  • Negative chants, booing and sneering can be distracting to players

  • Younger performers may not enjoy, or be used to, crowd behaviour and this can affect participation numbers

  • Large crowds can create a negative atmosphere through crowd trouble, or hooliganism; this has been a problem at some football matches

  • When crowds become too large or volatile for the sporting arena it can become unsafe

    • Ensuring the safety of spectators can have large costs, e.g. employing security and building secure infrastructure

Hooliganism

  • Hooliganism can be defined as:

Violent or damaging behaviour by individuals or groups of people

  • Hooliganism can be a problem inside sports grounds and also on nearby roads, inside pubs and on public transport to and from events

  • Reasons for hooliganism include:

    • Rivalry between spectators of opposing teams

    • A sense of hype and excitement around a sport and match outcomes

    • Spectators being fuelled by alcohol or drugs which can affect behaviour

    • Gang culture can arise when spectators want to protect and defend their team or local area from opposition spectators

    • Frustration about decisions made by match officials

    • Most hooliganism occurs among male spectators and it is thought that this could be a display of masculinity from these spectators

Hooliganism diagram

Security staff are shown wearing riot gear while a small number of spectators show disruptive behaviour

Hooliganism at sporting events can result in destructive and violent behaviour

Combatting Hooliganism/Spectator Behaviour

  • Sports governing bodies, town and city councils and the police work hard to combat hooliganism and negative spectator behaviour

  • The strategies employed can be costly, although the cost of damage to local areas and sports facilities from hooliganism has to be considered

  • Strategies to combat hooliganism include:

    • Starting events and matches with an early kick-off

      • This prevents spectators from visiting establishments that serve alcohol before attending an event

      • Local pubs may lose income as a result of this strategy

    • Alcohol restrictions are put in place within sports grounds

      • There may be a ban on alcohol sales

      • Security checks ensure that spectators do not bring alcohol on site

    • Stadia are designed to be all-seater venues

      • This means that spectators stay in their seats and are not able to move around as much

      • There is also better control over the number of tickets that can be sold

      • This is costly to the sport and this cost may be offset by higher ticket prices or reduced funds elsewhere in the sport, e.g. player wages or employment of coaches

    • Stadia are designed to segregate fans around and within the grounds

      • This can be costly to police

      • Improved security, such as CCTV, is required

      • Seating that is purposefully left empty will impact ticket sales and profit

    • Spectators can be given banning orders

      • This means that they are prevented from attending events where known hooliganism behaviour has occurred in the past

    • There may also be travel restrictions for known hooligans

      • This is to prevent them from travelling to or from matches

      • This can be costly for the police as it often involves ensuring that these spectators attend police stations during sporting events

    • Many sports utilise education programmes and campaigns to encourage positive spectator behaviour

      • High-profile sports players may be used to appeal to spectators and fans for better behaviour

Exam Tip

You need to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies, e.g. a strategy may reduce bad behaviour but there may be high costs involved

You've read 0 of your 0 free revision notes

Get unlimited access

to absolutely everything:

  • Downloadable PDFs
  • Unlimited Revision Notes
  • Topic Questions
  • Past Papers
  • Model Answers
  • Videos (Maths and Science)

Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Cara Head

Author: Cara Head

Cara graduated from the University of Exeter in 2005 with a degree in Biological Sciences. She has fifteen years of experience teaching the Sciences at KS3 to KS5, and Psychology at A-Level. Cara has taught in a range of secondary schools across the South West of England before joining the team at SME. Cara is passionate about Biology and creating resources that bring the subject alive and deepen students' understanding