What makes Europeans so much more fanatical about sports?

[Bucktee]

In Canada and the USA, sport is treated as family entertainment.

In Europe, it's seems to be taken much more seriously, almost like it's an emphatic expression of national pride and honour.

We all know about the soccer (football) fans and hooliganism that occurs in Europe, but look at how fanatical basketball fans are in places like Serbia and Lithuania where basketball is popular.

Fireworks, flags, confetti, lighters, in the stands. Meanwhile in Japan, fans don't even get out of their seats and just clap while watching games.

 

[JuanGoodman]

but look at how fanatical basketball fans are in places like Serbia and Lithuania where basketball is popular.

takes fanatical people to be fanatical about something

 

[seanzo]

Every time Vancouver has lost in the Stanley Cup finals the city has been sacked by ornery fans. In Montreal, ornery behaviour is expected so the police tend to encourage fans to behave themselves less they be bonked over the head with a truncheon. Toronto Potato Leafs fans tend to merely seethe online these days but the level of seething surely indicates a degree of fanaticism on par with soccer hooligans in Europe

 

[onomatopoeia]

Europe is less than 100 square miles smaller than Canada in total area, with about 50 countries, almost 18 times as many people, and a lot more than two official languages. Most of the sports powerhouse countries have a larger population than Canada packed into a much smaller area.

I think Europeans as a group strongly support their domestic leagues, their International teams and their medal contenders in individual sports. I'm not sure if very many of the soccer/ football fans in England would follow the French, German or Italian leagues, beyond being familiar with the stars who play for their National team during tournaments.

Other than in hockey and women's soccer, Canada doesn't really have a National team in other sports which is a contender at the International level. I don't count curling, because I consider it to be more of a past time than a competitive sport. To me, if you can drink alcohol during the competition and have keys and a wallet in your pocket when you play, it's not a true sport.

 

[onomatopoeia]

Don’t know about Canada but football especially college football has rabid fan bases in the US especially in the south. People poison trees on the campus of their rival schools and most of these folks never go to those schools.

Not much of an audience for European college sports.

 

[opieshuffle]

Time. People aren't just fanatics for a sport. Families have generations cheering for a single team. Football clubs dating back to the 1800s.
It's part of their identity, not just a hobby.

 

[Zoot Allures]

National pride in all the international events and it is world wide

Let us see WTF happens here when the world cup comes to Toronto in 2026 as we should have a competitive team

Soccer is an acquired taste