preview

Group Identity Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

A group identity gives a population a sense of belonging; it helps them to connect and interact with like-minded individuals, which leads to people feeling like they belong. One of the strongest examples of this is through sports and its fans. People from all different walks of life come together and identify with a sports organization and what it stands for. For sports organizations, each individual team has its own different identity behind which fans are distinguished, new teams are able to create their own cultures whether it's through an expansion team or a relocation, and personally, as a sports fan, losing your team can lead to you challenging and even changing what you identify with. Within the realm of sports, many fans are …show more content…

This has led to the Jets now having a MTV-esque identity. On the other hand, the New York Giants have a more established and respected identity compared to the Jets, leading to a comparison of the Giants to the Jets as that of the relationship of an older brother to a younger brother. With these differences between the cultures of the two teams, when a person decides to become a fan of either one of these teams, they instantly associate themselves with these ideas and take on the group identity of being a fan of the team. Additionally, as new teams are created and teams are relocated, teams have the opportunity to create their own identity. One example of this is the Brooklyn Nets, who rather than trying to establish their identity through excellent play on the court, have been working hard to identify strongly with the borough of Brooklyn, giving their fans the appearance of being true to Brooklyn. Brett Yormark, the chief executive of the Brooklyn Nets said, “We Brooklyn-ized who we are, which I think is critical. The goal is to become a lifestyle brand”. Because of this, fans of the Brooklyn Nets take on a group identity representative of the culture that is prominent in Brooklyn. The newest example of a team choosing their identity is

Get Access