New research on the religion of football

by David Masters

A new book to be published in America highlights the similarities between being a football fan and being a religious believer.

‘Game Day and God: Football, Faith and Politics in the American South’ was researched and written by Dr. Eric Bain-Selbo, a senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Western Kentucky University.

Dr. Bain-Selbo says that he wrote the book to find out if, as many claim, American football really does function as a religion in the south of the US.

To complete the book, he researched five schools in the American south - Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana State, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

Similarities between religion and football found by Dr. Bain-Selbo include:

A day of worship. For fans of American college football, this is Saturday.

Large congregations coming together for worship. Many football games have tens of thousands of passionate spectators.

Popular worship centres. Some football stadiums are seen as more famous or ‘hallowed’ than others.

Hard-core believers. Those who are longstanding members of a church congregation get to choose their favourite seats. The same is true for football fans.

Sense of community. People from many different social, cultural and economic backgrounds come together with the same aims in mind.

Rituals and symbolism. In football these include team songs, mascots, designs on the football kit and half time team talks.

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