Are there any sports hooligans in America?

[Deathknightish]

A few weeks ago it was time again for a bunch of hooligans in my city to fight it off after a football/soccer game. It's not as bad as it was in England during the 70s and 80s, where the idiots shanked each other to death, but there were still dozens of people taking part in a huge fist fight.

I've never heard of this in the U.S. Are there hooligans in the same way as here in Europe?

I don't understand the whole thing at all. I will fanboy and cheer for my ice hockey team anytime, but why would I ever want to bring violence into it and hate the other teams and their supporters?

[Machismo]

Not really...

You have the occasional drunk asshole, but that's about it.

When a team wins a championship, they may break shit in that city.

[Egomaniac]

Not really...

You have the occasional drunk asshole, but that's about it.

When a team wins a championship, they may break shit in that city.

Also, when they lose a championship.

[Fencers]

Philadelphia Eagles fans.

[Machismo]

Philadelphia Eagles fans.

As an Eagles fan, I can confirm.

I will say they mellowed out after 2017.

[jonnysensible]

NYC FC have a neo nazi firm but the US gun culture and size (lack of traveling away fans) makes a hooligan scene structurally difficult

[NoiseTank13]

NYC FC have a neo nazi firm but the US gun culture and size (lack of traveling away fans) makes a hooligan scene structurally difficult

You'll get the odd fights and deaths every now and then, but not really, stuff happens after a championship. Like a Canadian hockey team losing to a US team.

[Zan15]

A few weeks ago it was time again for a bunch of hooligans in my city to fight it off after a football/soccer game. It's not as bad as it was in England during the 70s and 80s, where the idiots shanked each other to death, but there were still dozens of people taking part in a huge fist fight.

I've never heard of this in the U.S. Are there hooligans in the same way as here in Europe?

I don't understand the whole thing at all. I will fanboy and cheer for my ice hockey team anytime, but why would I ever want to bring violence into it and hate the other teams and their supporters?

Yes, but we call it politics here not sports.....

[Twdft]

Frodo was the only one

[Deathknightish]

Frodo was the only one

haha, that was really what made me create this thread. I was watching Green Street Hooligans and remembered the fight in my city a bit back.

[Nihilist74]

At the NFL Philidelphia Eagles football stadium, they have a judge and jail in the stadium to arrest and prosecute sports hooligans at the games.
The Raiders fans used to be really bad in the 80s and 90s. When the raiders played the chargers, someone got stabbed.
There are some fights between drunk people at the games.
It has not been a major problem for most games though.

[Shadowferal]

Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Philly fans period.
Threw snowballs and heckled snd booed Santa Claus...
Threw batteries at opposing team players..

Just too much to go into. But a judge and jail beneath the stands should speak for itself.

[Polyxo]

If the Bills win the superbowl their fans will destroy every table in the galaxy.

[caractacus]

I remember studying this a long time ago when I did sports studies. Suffice to say, yes there are, or at least were, big differences between hooliganism in the US and in Europe. There were cultural reasons to explain this but it was a long way back and I can't remember what they were.

[Fencers]

If the Bills win the superbowl their fans will destroy every table in the galaxy.

LMFAO! I hope they go again, and lose, again.

[Jastall]

There's some teams with rowdy fans but nothing like the widespread culture of hooliganism in the bad old days of Great Britain. Mostly it's said rowdy fans making a mess or starting minor riots after championships, win or lose. I know here in Montreal the Habs have some crazies who break some windows and cars every couple years. Curiously there was nothing of the sort last year when we lost the Stanley Cup final, presumably due to Covid measures and such.

I've always had a suspicion that violent sports bred somewhat tamer fans, since their thirst for fisticuffs and concussions is sated on the play field. But I couldn't back that up scientifically.

[Biglog]

Definitely nothing like in Europe, but there are a lot of sports rivalries that get heated and do turn violent in small group fights from time to time. I do think it is more common in the US than people realize, because when they happen they do not get a lot of coverage. They usually start and finish before police and news would get there. But I've seen fights after games with 20v20 fans in the parking lot, busloads full of fans from a visiting city having rocks and all sorts of things thrown at it after a fight broke out, etc. Especially after 9-11 there is enough security at games that anything violent is pretty short-lived though. And teams don't like to have much coverage of those things when it happens because it reflects badly on the team and security around the stadium. They don't want families staying home and not attending games worried about getting dragged into a fan fight.

There are rivalries in the US that I've seen enough fights break out at (both big and small) that I wouldn't take kids to some games. It doesn't take much at all after many beers towards the end of a game for a grumpy drunk fan of a losing team to take offense at the smallest thing. The last one I saw next to me at a game was when someone spilled a bit of popcorn on another guy's girlfriend, and that quickly turned into drunk protective boyfriends punching each other. So there are some rivalries where if I go to a game I'm a little more prepared to avoid drunk and mouthy opposing fans. The fans of some cities have that rep for being obnoxious, especially if their team is doing better in the standings. But I think most fans attending games in the US act like adults and keep the back and forth with opposing fans fun. Nobody wants to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets and get kicked out.

[Twdft]

Nobody wants to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets and get kicked out.

Cheapest season tickets for most of Bundesliga is less than €200.

[Shadowferal]

Nothing like little League and murderous parents.

[Poopymonster]

As an Eagles fan, I can confirm.

I will say they mellowed out after 2017.

Of course they did. They knew it wouldn't ever happen again, so they made the most of it.
Not an Eagles fan, but worked in a cafe near Philly.
Morning after the stupidbowl, lots and lots and lots of black coffee. Just black coffee. Quietly.