Football Fans and Food: Feeding the Desire.

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of food and drink within the sports fan experience. Food and alcohol have historically been the primary purchases of sports fans when they attend a sports match but, until recently, there has been relatively little academic research into the actual offerings in stadiums. The small number of academic studies on the topic and anecdotal discussions have highlighted that the cost, quality, and healthiness of food and beverages are areas of dissatisfaction for fans. In this chapter we highlight that sports stadiums have not been associated with healthy eating and drinking, rather they are linked to excessive drinking of alcohol with this practice closely tied to traditional hegemonic masculinity. We finish by highlighting a push for healthier options, led by the Healthy Stadia network, and provide an updated list of recommendations for food and drink in venues.