The Definitive Fan #6 – The Tourist
Welcome to The Definitive Fan – The online guide from PowerPlayGoal.com to the types of fans who you’re likely to meet (or not meet) at a hockey game.
Some of these fans clearly have a true passion for the game, others, well, they are just there for something to do.
Fan Type #6 – The Tourist
Game programs are usually a favourite piece of merchandise for tourist-type fans.
Bio:
So you have a friend who’s going on vacation, and you happen to notice that they’ve picked a city that’s home to an NHL team. Your friend may have never seen a game in their life, nor had any prior interest in the sport, so being a huge hockey fan yourself; you quickly recommend that they go see an NHL game.
Apparently going by your recommendation – although there’s no guarantee of them doing so – your friend will then attend a game, and chances are they will have enjoyed themselves. But again, there’s no guarantee. After they’ve been on vacation for however long, they will come home and you will encounter one of the following scenarios:
A: They’ll have enjoyed the game, seemingly developing a casual interest in hockey in the process. In future, they may still claim that they are a fan of one of the two teams that they saw play, usually the home team, otherwise they won’t show many, if any signs of interest, thus creating Tourist Fan Type A.
B: They’ll have really enjoyed the game, so much that they’ve picked up as much merchandise as possible, gone out of their way to learn about and cherish the history and traditions of the team, and they’ll seemingly be a fan for life (although chances are this could merely be a post-vacation stage). Don’t like the team they’ve chosen? Or are you now finding it annoying how they’re always bringing up some great event in the team’s history that they talk about as if they saw it yesterday? Well, tough, because you’ve just created Tourist Fan Type B.
Characteristics:
Well, come on. They’ve just come home with at least a jersey of their new favourite team. Or some other team memorabilia to remember their holiday by, like a game programme. Tourist Fan Type A however, will most likely seem more generic, and will have no distinguishable characteristics.
Favourite Team:
Depends on where they visit. A common choice for British Tourists for example would be the Tampa Bay Lightning, or maybe the New York Rangers.
Other:
Scenario A above will occur more commonly than B, although there may have been a few rare cases of the latter.
I’m Wildwing64, and this is The Definitive Fan.
