On Average, 69,520 fans crowd into a stadium, wearing jerseys with their favorite player’s last name. Decked out from head to toe in their team’s colors and merchandise.
Generally, 150 to 200 dollars a ticket, NFL die hard fans spend lots of money on season passes or individual tickets.
Only nine percent of American adults attend a religious service every week.
On the other hand, about 5.6 percent of American adults attend an NFL game throughout the entirety of the season.
Both religion and the NFL encourage extreme loyalty and emotional investment.
From tithing to tickets, religion and sports are two of America’s biggest money and time spenders.
Competing for the same days, church and NFL games on Sundays are the most common ways to spend a sabbath day.
“I think it is wrong to become so invested in a sport that in reality means very little,” Cheyenne Peugh said.
Although it is the most extreme case, the NFL is not the only place that has diehard fans.
The NBA has 18,137 fans per game, on average, and the MLB has an average of 27,454 fans per game.
Similarly to sports games, concerts, and events for influencers gain the same kind of foot traction as church services.
“I think that the main reason so many people go to concerts or sports events is because of one player or celebrity,” Makena Cleveland said. “The devotion that people give to Taylor Swift can also be seen given to Pat Maholmes, or even pastors at their churches. It is an odd phenomenon, and I don’t think people do it on purpose.”
This ride-or-die mindset translates to even the oddest of influencers.
One celebrity that people seem to be supporting a lot is Trisha Paytas.
Trisha Paytas, a YouTube and TikTok influencer, was able to go on tour with tickets being up to 300$, and not because she is a good singer, dancer, or comedian, but because she is viral on YouTube for her mukbangs and vlogs.
These events are almost always full of her fans in massive venues and event centers.
“The people that have such a strong level of commitment to an influencer scare me,” Micah Fox said. “It’s like they don’t know the difference between real life and TikTok.”
This effect of following influencers can also have a negative impact.
One influencer who has felt this impact is James Charles.
This beauty guru and influencer lost millions of followers in the past couple of days, due to his being in close relations with a domestic violence case.
This loss of millions of followers has forced James Charles to address the issue and clarify to his followers his side of the story.
Similar situations to Trisha Paytas’ and James Charles’ occur often in religion as well.
From mass followings to huge mega church services, the fan mindset seems to translate through religion all the way to TikTok and the NFL.
