Brooke Womack
Sports Editor
“Friday Night Lights” or “FNL” has always been the staple name for high school football games. Every Friday night students, parents and fellow football fans pack into the bleachers to cheer their team on to victory.
However, the same doesn’t happen the night before for soccer teams. Although the soccer team plays on the same field their player to fan ratio is much smaller. What causes such drops in fans for sports that aren’t American football?
The answer is simple, it’s the classic American stereotype. Something about high school football just brings a community together.
“Most years, in the past our football team wasn’t the best so when they got fans it was because people enjoyed the idea of being at a football game. Now that our team is winning consistently, we’re getting even more fans than usual,” sophomore Chloe Sperr said.
It’s not to say that a successful season is the only way to bring in fans, however. In previous years, Sandy track and cross country teams have been very successful with many athletes making it to districts or even state. But no one is showing to cheer them on except a couple devoted parents and friends.
“Some sports are more intriguing than others, especially when there’s more action. Like when Leithan (Thompson) scored a touchdown against Barlow everyone lost their voice. It’s more fun to watch sports where they’re always scoring,” senior Leonel Olmos said.
The only other team that has managed to bring in a consistent amount of fans this fall season has been volleyball. This is the girls’ fall sport equivalent to football.
These two sports having the most popularity among other sports goes back to the quick pace of the games. In both sports, the players and the ball is constantly moving.
An average human attention span is eight seconds. So, watching something consistently with no cheering can be mentally tiring, whether the person is aware or not.
Sports that don’t have the luxury of a fast moving game need to be taking other measures if they want more fans at their games.
“Sports that get more fans advertise their sports more,” Olmos said. It’s true too. The only sports at the high school that constantly have themes planned or post about upcoming games are the volleyball and football teams.
Overall cheering for a team is what peaks interest, and winning is what keeps fans there. If someone is having fun at a game they will show up time and time again.
The Pioneer Press 