Can a Band Wagon Fan Actually Be Considered a Real Fan?

A band wagon fan is someone that only recognizes their team when they are winning. This type of fan seems to forget about the team that they root for when the team starts to lose, or not play as good as they are when the fan starts to root for them. Is this type of fan actually a real fan? Can this person be considered a die hard fan that many of them claim they are, when they don't even stand by the team when they go through a hard stretch?

I think that band wagon fans are not fans at all; instead they are just people looking to jump on the train so they can say that their team was the best. This type of rooting is not fair. Not only to the team that they are rooting for, but also to that real die hard fans that stick with their team through a hard couple years. A great example of a Band Wagon city is the very city I love in. Buffalo is full of these types of fans, in every sport. A couple cities that have a relatively low number of band wagon fans are Washington and Toronto.

Buffalo is one of the biggest places to find Band Wagon fans. For example in hockey a couple years ago the team was dreadful. They could not make the playoffs no matter what. During this stretch tickets were easy to get, as the games were never sold out. No one got together to watch their games. No one cared about the Buffalo Sabres. Over the past 2 years the Sabres have picked it up. Last year they were one win short of making it to the Stanley cup finals, and this year won the presidents trophy for the best record in the NHL. They are currently still battling for the Cup right now. During this 2 year stretch tickets are impossible to find unless you want to pay 300 dollars for 2 tickets. Not only is every game sold out for a couple years to come, but fans even pack outside the arena to watch the playoff games on a couple big screens. Every game night people get together, whether at a friends house or the local bar, to watch the game. Where did all these fans come from? They are all Band Wagon fans. They forget about the team through a rough stretch, and as soon as they start winning, everyone is a fan.

Now not every city is made up of Band Wagon fans, and a few of the better know cities include Toronto and Washington. In Washington the football team there, the Washington Redskins, have been having trouble winning for years. Every year they seem to make the best moves in the off season, yet they always fail to produce in the regular season. With the almost horrible results this team puts up year after year, they still manage to sell out every game, including games into the next seasons. Another city with few Band Wagon fans is Toronto, especially in the Hockey team. The Toronto Maple Leafs, are always a decent team, but always have to struggle to make the post season. Yet just like the redskins, every game is sold out, and the fans never seem to deviate from the team during a rough stretch. Now people may argue the fact that these cities are proven winners in the past. But the fact here is that fans still follow and love their team no matter what the team may have accomplished in the past.

Every real fan can not stand to see Band Wagon fans come out of the wood work when their team starts to win. A great example of a city known for this is Buffalo. Both the football and Hockey teams have trouble selling out games when they are not winning. Yet when they are winning, funding a ticket is the hard part. Like wise cities like Toronto and Washington, although being known for winning in the past, are cities where fans stay true no matter how bad the team gets.