Ben Hale: Content Marketer & Writer

Connections News Blog, July 12, 2014

Messi. Neymar. Ronaldo. Van Persie. Millions tune into the FIFA World Cup to see amazing performances by the best soccer players in the world. Soccer’s popularity even seems to be picking up in the US; ESPN reported that this year’s match against Portugal was the most-watched soccer game in American history. Tim Howard became a household name after his record-shattering 16 saves in the game against Belgium.

In addition to giving us the tense moments and thrills of the game, the World Cup tells us something about our society. What is that, exactly? Mikaela Dufur, associate professor of sociology, has a few answers to that question.

The casual World Cup viewer can observe the interplay between two sport sociology phenomena, known by their acronyms, BIRG and CORF. Basking in Reflected Glory occurs when a fan’s team wins a game or scores a goal, and the fan feels that they share in that success. Cutting Off Reflected Failure is the opposite; when a fan’s team does poorly, they disconnect themselves from the team.

“With Portugal, when the US went up 2-1, people were saying, ‘We’re going to win. We are awesome,’” said Dufur. “And after Bradley gave up that crossing pass and Ronaldo scored, people said, ‘I can’t believe they threw it away. I can’t believe he made that pass.’ We turn [on our team] really quickly as soon as something goes wrong.” Any fan can observe their own comments after a game and discover that they engage in this peculiar behavior.

The World Cup, and soccer in general, is well-loved throughout the globe. Nearly half of the world’s population watched the 2010 World Cup. Even in the US, where baseball, basketball, and football take center stage, popularity for soccer is increasing each year. “I think soccer is still growing here, albeit slowly,” said Dufur. “There are some competing statistics on this.”

Before this year’s World Cup, Pew Research polled a sample of Americans and asked whether they planned on watching the games or not. Their results suggested that about the same number of people would watch as in 2010. But ESPN reported that the USA-Portugal and USA-Belgium games shattered the records for 1st and 2nd most-watched soccer games in the US. “It wasn’t that more people said they’d watch. But more people actually did watch,” said Dufur.

In addition to displaying the tremendous skills of teams and players, the World Cup can bring out the uglier side of society. Brazil erupted into protests after the government spent millions on FIFA standard stadiums. People began to ask where their “FIFA standard” schools and hospitals were. “I think [FIFA standard] has really caught on in terms of being a catchphrase to draw attention to the ‘bread and circuses’ function that sports sometimes serves in society,” said Dufur.

Despite the negative atmosphere surrounding the World Cup, many fans focus on what makes the tournament great in their eyes. “Part of the beauty of it is that countries that aren’t wealthy, and that don’t dominate other sports or [in] the Olympics, have a chance. That’s fun to watch,” said Dufur.

According to Dufur, the World Cup (and sports in general) brings people together in a way that few other things can. She gave the example of Iran’s participation in this year’s cup. “They had fans [of other teams] who loved their soccer team and wanted them to win too,” said Dufur. The camaraderie and sportsmanship of the Cup helps people of diverse cultural backgrounds see eye to eye, or as Dufur put it, that “they’re just like us.”

See the original story here.