\n\tLarry Olmsted, author of \u201cFans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Understanding,\u201d said Tuesday, \u201cI think interest in and passion for sports as entertainment or spectacle is reaching new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tU.S. fans\u2019 relatively newfound interest in soccer and Formula 1 racing as well as team indoor sports have not only increased viewership for those, but also for the NFL, the NBA, NASCAR, and other entities, he said. \u201cSports is reaching new heights, but not necessarily traditional fandom for a particular team. Especially in big markets, success always attracts fair weather fans. For example, the Knicks will be more popular short-term, but that\u2019s not true for every NBA team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile allegiances with athletes and sports may be expanding, many diehard fans and newbies still like wearing their favorite team\u2019s colors or styles. After the Knicks clinched the finals, Fanatics received nearly 8,500 orders per minute \u2014 a new company record \u2014 with New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, and Connecticut being the top-selling states, according to a NBA spokesperson.<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd the 2026 World Cup is expected to give New York and New Jersey an economic jolt, by generating $3.3 billion, supporting 26,000-plus jobs, and attracting more than 1.2 million visitors. Last weekend\u2019s $60 million UFC fight night at the White House reportedly attracted more than 200,000 people to a two-day fan fest and exceeded chief executive officer Dana White\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n
\n\tPinterest released its first sports-related trend report a few weeks ago. The platform, which has 600 million active monthly users, mined search information. Noting how people have been infusing sport symbols, team colors, uniforms and bold graphics into their everyday attire, Pinterest\u2019s global trends and insights lead Sydney Stanback said, \u201cIt was showing up in fashion, beauty, food, and lifestyle all at once. That kind of cross-category momentum tells us we\u2019re not looking at a single trend anymore, we\u2019re looking at a cultural shift.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSports can fill a void for community simply by putting on a hat or jersey and walking into a sports bar during a game time, Olmsted said. \u201cHumans are genetically and historically social creatures and have built and lived in communities since the cavemen era, and as increased urbanization and relocation has splintered the traditional extended family living in one town or under one roof, it\u2019s a way to maintain family of sorts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tSeven-year-old Vivian Havens, who is better known as \u201cSuperfan Vivian\u201d and has attended 400-plus games, and the high-flying octogenarian James F. Goldstein, a courtside presence at 5,000-plus NBA games and counting, reflect the widening spectrum of fandom. With more than 400,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, Havens started turning up courtside, when she was only two months old, thanks to her parents Todd and Callie Havens.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Superfan](\"https:\/\/wwd.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-wwd-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\u201cSuperfan Vivian\u201d with Tracey Morgan courtside at the 2026 NBA finals.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Courtesy<\/p>\n
\n\tAsked about the fervor that summer fans are embracing, Vivian Havens said when she wears team jerseys and attends games she feels like she is part of the team. Her parents had a different take, suggesting fans feel like they are part of the action as they can pull up in-depth information about their favorite teams and players at any time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tHighlighting the marketability of fandom, there is \u00a0\u201cSuperfan Vivian Merch\u201d like a $25 logo T-shirt and a $18 Shooter Shoot cap with sales benefiting St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital.<\/p>\n
\n\tGlobal Citizen is promoting its July 19 watch party in New York City\u2019s Central Park for the World Cup finals as \u201cone of the biggest in the world.\u201d New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be among the 50,000 attendees on the Great Lawn. In the meantime, FIFA Fan Festivals are being staged in Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia and other cities. In Seattle, fans can catch the matches on a floating barge or watch them live on a giant LED screen at Pier 62. KidSuper\u2019s Colm Dillane, who played soccer professionally in Brazil before getting into fashion, will host a watch party for the England-Croatia match Wednesday on the soccer field rooftop of his 10,000-square-foot Brooklyn headquarters.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tFans watch players leave the field after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and Egypt on June 15, 2026 at Seattle Stadium.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIcon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n\tFans are showing their team allegiance by wearing soccer jerseys and T-shirts from brands like Adidas<\/a>, Nike<\/a>, Puma, and more casual looks from Levi\u2019s and Old Navy. Through July 19, Adidas<\/a> has set up its own fan zone in Brooklyn Bridge Park with live screenings, a soccer pitch, a beer garden and food vendors. The sports juggernaut also has a slew of soccer-related looks including a$140 Argentina 2006 Messi jersey, $120 denim graphic track top, and a $90 Mexico midriff-baring reconstructed bringback jersey.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe Art of the Game\u201d is a public art installation that is featured in 23 locations in New York and New Jersey, including this sculpture outside of the Whitney Museum of American Art.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Tim Kovolenko\/Courtesy The Whitney<\/p>\n \n\tThe Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City is trying to woo fans with soccer-inspired events. Outside its downtown entrance, visitors will find one of the 23 sculptures that are part of the public art installation \u201cThe Art of the Game.\u201d The nonprofit ARTS 14C partnered with the New York and New Jersey 2026 World Cup host committee for the project, which features the work of internationally known artists including Tomokazu Matsuyama, Futura 2000 and Fred Wilson. After the 18-karat gold Silvio Gazzaniga-designed World Cup trophy is presented to the victors, \u201cThe Art of the Game\u201d will remain on view through Sept. 7. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Guggenheim, the New York Botanical Garden and the American Museum of Natural History are getting in on the action, as well as colleges and universities like the University of Southern California and Rhode Island School of Design\u2019s Museum.<\/p>\n \n\tAt Hudson Yards\u2019 watch parties, the crowd size has ranged from 2,000 to 6,000 people so far, according to Hudson Yards\u2019 senior vice president of marketing, partnerships and events Stephanie Fink Plakoudas. During Saturday\u2019s Brazil versus Morocco match, there was a 9 percent increase in traffic into the 60-store shopping center, compared to a year ago. \u201cThose are new visitors and existing ones that are coming in to shop, to dine and to enjoy themselves before and after the game,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAbsolutely\u201d expecting the watch party crowds to increase as the tournament progresses, Plakoudas said there is plenty of room in and around the plaza to accommodate the fans. \u201cPeople come, they dance, they cheer, they bring blankets and their families so it\u2019s a really nice outdoor experience that you can\u2019t get anywhere else in New York,\u201d she said. (They\u2019re also shopping in the two FIFA merchandise stores, and checking out activations with FIFA partners like American Airlines\u2019 \u201cFind Your Flag\u201d tie-in at the Vessel, which can lead to discounts for Hudson Yards\u2019 restaurants.)<\/p>\n \n\tSyracuse University sports management professor Richard Burton described the interest as \u201cthe Summer Sports Equinox,\u201d including \u201can extravaganza on the White House lawn.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of a sports celebration going on. The Knicks have waited a really long time [to win the championship]. The World Cup has brought in the entire world \u2014 48 countries \u2014 and it\u2019s happening all over Canada, Mexico and the United States,\u201d Burton said. \u201cAnd the weather\u2019s good. In a lot of parts of the U.S., it\u2019s sunny and warm and sports are going on. It\u2019s been good for fashion and the companies that make sports-branded materials. That\u2019s not just for the Knicks, but the Yankees [merchandise] is always selling and now you\u2019ve got World Cup fever with many countries and star players being represented. So all of it is fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs of Tuesday afternoon, Amazon<\/a>\u2019s bestsellers in fan clothing were the $33 Icon Sports officially licensed U.S. Soccer Federation game day shirt, Outerstuff\u2019s $40 FIFA World Cup 2026 men\u2019s soccer raglan top and fashion top, a $22 licensed NBA New York Knicks<\/a> T-shirt, and Adidas World Cup 2026 shirts for Mexico and Argentina.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tThe crowd at the match between Qatar and Switzerland at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in San Francisco on June 13, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n