Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of sports fanships. The upsides of being a sports fan can be obvious, but have you ever thought about the financial and emotional tolls that often come with fandom? From the price of tickets, jerseys, and streaming subscriptions to the time spent following games and the emotional rollercoaster of victories and losses, being a fan can add up in unexpected ways.
Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of sports fanships. The upsides of being a sports fan can be obvious, but have you ever thought about the financial and emotional tolls that often come with fandom? From the price of tickets, jerseys, and streaming subscriptions to the time spent following games and the emotional rollercoaster of victories and losses, being a fan can add up in unexpected ways.
Main Topics
00:00 Are Sports Fanships Worth It?
01:17 Running the Numbers Segment
03:06 The Financial Costs
08:18 Emotional Costs of Sports Fandom
11:27 Fan Origin Stories
18:44 Family Dynamics
19:37 The Emotional Rollercoaster of Being a Fan
20:56 Balancing Sports with Life
22:14 Social Costs
27:05 Superstitions and Rituals
30:07 Women in Sports Fandom
37:58 20 Cents Segment
References for Statistics
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/data-deconstructed-1235066283/
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/sports-key-insights-fandom-betting-media-and-more
https://www.statista.com/statistics/370560/worldwide-sports-market-revenue/
https://nypost.com/2024/08/07/sports/raging-sports-fans-watch-this-many-games-a-year/
Lissa: All right. Give me your favorite sports teams. NBA?
Lizzy: Lakers.
Lissa: NFL?
Lizzy: 9ers, baby.
Lissa: College?
Lizzy: UCLA.
Lissa: All right. Any other big?
Lizzy: Sparks. Dodgers. Kings.
Lissa: All right. So, the California package.
Lizzy: California Package y'all. Cali baby all day.
Lissa: All right. Today, we are talking about Are Sports Fanships Worth It?
Lizzy: Let's talk about it.
Lissa: Welcome to Net Net with Lizzy and Lissa, where we analyze hidden costs and empower you to make your own damn decisions in life. Each episode covers a different facet of life. And at the end of each episode, we each give our takes on whether we think something is net positive or net negative.
Lizzy: I'm Lizzy a strategist and consultant with almost 20 years of experience in finance and investing.
Lissa: And I'm Lissa, a personal finance expert and an accredited financial counselor. We're best friends who talk about money.
Lizzy: And everything else.
Lissa: Are Sports Fanships Worth It?
Lizzy: First up running the numbers on sports fanships.
Lissa: The professional sports industry is a large and fast-growing industry with a global revenue of over 403 billion in 2022. So, probably more than that now.
Lizzy: Yep.
Lissa: The industry is expected to grow to over 680 ... Why can't I read numbers? The industry is expected to grow to over 680 billion by 2028. My bad. I can't read numbers.
Lizzy: You're good. According to Ipsos polling, two in three Americans are sports fans.
Lissa: Lizz, you gave yourself the easy stat.
Lizzy: No, wait till the last one. Wait, I did it on purpose.
Lissa: All right. According to a Rolling Stone article on fan data, 41% of fans are already locked into supporting a pro team by the age of 12. This number grows to 62% by the time they reach 17.
Lizzy: Grooming them young, brainwash them, get them in young.
Lissa: Yeah. Man.
Lizzy: Okay. According to the New York Post, moderate sports fans reported spending $376 annually on average. While raging sports fans, the peak category, reported spending $879 on tickets, concessions, apparel, collectibles, memorabilia, streaming services, et cetera. So, more than twice as much between the moderate fan and the raging fan on an annual basis.
Lissa: I love that the stats say raging fan.
Lizzy: Yeah. That's what they called it.
Lissa: Yeah. Interesting.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Well, we know there is more to life than numbers and statistics, so let's talk it. Are sports fanships, fandoms, supporting a sports team, is it worth it?
Lizzy: All right. Let's start with the costs.
Lissa: Oh, yeah.
Lizzy: Okay. So, we talked about the basics of the financial cost that we got some average statistics. You're spending to watch the team through your TV package.
Lissa: Or live.
Lizzy: Or live. You're buying tickets. If you're buying tickets, there's transportation, there's parking, there's food, there's everything that comes with that. You're buying merch to rep. There's kind of all of these different components of the game of being a fan that have a financial cost. And it can be expensive, bro. It is not cheap.
Lissa: Yeah. It's crazy nowadays. If you want a jersey like a professional jersey, that's not like a replica, like a real one, you're spending well over $100 or $200.
Lizzy: Yeah. I bought this one at the end of last season. I want to say it was at least 200.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah. Why? Why do we do this?
Lissa: I don't know.
Lizzy: Okay. The other thing is what's the most you've ever spent on tickets?
Lissa: Oh, man. To any game?
Lizzy: To any game.
Lissa: I want to say that I spent 600 bucks on a playoff basketball game, Warriors, Cavs. But I didn't just buy tickets for me. It was also two of my closest cousin's birthdays and I had a lot of discretionary income at the time, so I bought tickets for all of us, three of us.
Lizzy: At 600 each?
Lissa: It was something like that, I think.
Lizzy: All right. Honestly, knowing you, that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Lissa: Okay. Throughout the episode, it'll come back to me. I've probably spent more. I can't think of it.
Lizzy: Yeah. I actually haven't spent that much. I've had weird fortunate situations where I interned for the Clippers in college, so I got so many NBA tickets for free for years and years after. So, I've seen a lot of people play. And then my brother-in-law got 9ers tickets after I took him to a game season tickets. And so, I just get tickets to games every season because he's the best. Shout out to Justin.
Lissa: Shout out to Justin.
Lizzy: Shout out to Justin. At least I get tickets to games.
Lissa: Man.
Lizzy: Speaking of which, we got to talk, we got to talk.
Lissa: We got to talk. Cool.
Lizzy: We got to talk. But yeah, so I haven't actually had to pay that much for that many games. That said, when we were in the Super Bowl last year, I was very seriously contemplating flying to Vegas and either just to go or dropping a ticket on this could be a once in a lifetime thing.
Lissa: What was the ticket price?
Lizzy: Like 10 grand.
Lissa: Oh, wow.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Oh, wow.
Lizzy: It was one of those things of if we go and we win ...
Lissa: You have been ...
Lizzy: I have been there. I'll remember this my entire life. It would be one of the best days of my life. So, spoiler alert, the game before that, we went to the game with two other friends of the pod. Shout out to my brother-in-law. It was one of the best days of my life.
Lissa: It was so fun.
Lizzy: It's so fun.
Lissa: It was so fun.
Lizzy: It was a comeback win. It was crazy. It was so fun. So, it was riding that high and being like, "Oh my God. We're in it." And then the way we lost, again.
Lissa: I will say I've also been so lucky and blessed and privileged to have dope friends and also work in certain industries because I used to get free tickets to things too when I used to work at Google because I was friends with certain execs who got to have free tickets.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: And same with we went to ... We had a VIP experience.
Lizzy: Oh, my God. That's amazing.
Lissa: The Rams, 9ers game two years ago.
Lizzy: On the sideline.
Lissa: How do you even pay for VIP tickets like that?
Lizzy: I don't even know. I don't even know how you'd say how much that was worth to just be there.
Lissa: And it's like free food, but gourmet food.
Lizzy: Like gourmet food, yeah, all that you could eat and drinks and that was amazing.
Lissa: So, to think about what some people who actually have the money to buy tickets that, spend, is crazy.
Lizzy: Yeah. For sure. We've been really fortunate. We also have another homie who threw his work, gets Lakers tickets and stuff to the box where you're sitting there with all the food and he'll always hook us up. So, some of that is I think the nature of living and working in LA where there is a lot of that and being in entertainment and knowing those people. But we've also just been lucky.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Really lucky.
Lissa: But then the flip side of that is if you are in certain markets where there's a lot of business and networking done at games and it's these huge companies and corporations buying out the boxes and the good seats, then it drives up the prices for everyone else who just want to see a game.
Lizzy: It's funny, because that reminds me of the Super Bowl when they were saying that, I think it was Christian McCaffrey's mom was talking about how expensive it was to even attend as a player's mom, because everyone's buying these up, reselling them, et cetera.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: All right. So, tickets are expensive, merch is expensive.
Lissa: Merch is expensive.
Lizzy: But then there's also the other types of costs. We got financial costs. This is an investment. It's a commitment on an annual basis to be a fan. What else we got, girl?
Lissa: The emotional cost.
Lizzy: The emotional cost.
Lissa: That might be bigger than the financial cost in my opinion.
Lizzy: I agree. I completely agree.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: It can ruin your day.
Lissa: Or week or months.
Lizzy: Or week or month or year.
Lissa: Or off season.
Lizzy: Or off season, months.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Months. Taking it so personally. Sometimes more than the players. You're like, "Oh, they're laughing it off after a loss." And you're like, "Why am I so upset?"
Lissa: You know what's funny is it worse to be a fan of a team that's pretty good, but ...
Lizzy: Always falls short.
Lissa: It's so close and falls short. So, 9ers over the past decade, like 10, 15 years, same thing with, so Arsenal is a new team that I'm a fan of because my fiance, Allan, is the biggest Arsenal fan, football team, English Premier League. And I think they've also come close many times and fallen short over the last couple of years. And so, I'm like, "Is that worse or is it worse to be?"
Lizzy: Bad for 30 years.
Lissa: Yeah. Bad your entire life. You've never even made it to playoffs kind of team.
Lizzy: Honestly, I think it's worse to be good and fall short, because you get your hopes up and you get so close and then that experience is just so painful versus at a certain point, if you're just know that you're going to be bad, you can just chuck it up to like, "We're just having fun."
Lissa: Yeah. Yeah. Or just like, "We've been the underdog for the last 30, 40 years and should we make it far in playoffs or make it to the Super Bowl for NFL." Then like, "We will have everyone behind us. And if we don't win, no one's going to be mad at us either."
Lizzy: Right. And the expectations are different. So, just making it to the playoffs if you haven't in 20 years is like, "Oh, my God. It's a huge win." Or just winning a game can bring you so much joy.
Lissa: So, it means more.
Lizzy: It means more. Versus that's the expectation. And so, then the losses hurt so much. It's like there's more upside and less downside because the expectation is that you suck.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Versus if the expectation is that you're good, like we are right now, we're supposed to be Super Bowl contenders and then we're losing.
Lissa: Yeah. And by we.
Lizzy: We mean the 49ers, us, personally, as the fandom.
Lissa: Yeah. Some people aren't watching the video.
Lizzy: That's true. That's right.
Lissa: We're wearing 49ers gear. We're both 49ers fans.
Lizzy: Yeah. We're both 49ers fans.
Lissa: Yeah. And that's a funny thing is when you say we, you feel ... you are part of the franchise.
Lizzy: You are part of the team. You're like, Kyle Shanahan, the coach. Call me up. I will let you know what we need to do, half-time.
Lissa: Yeah. You call him Kyle.
Lizzy: Kyle, my boy Kyle and my baby daddy, Fred Warner. And my best friend George Kittle. That's my family y'all.
Lissa: My homie Deebo.
Lizzy: Homie Deebo.
Lissa: Okay. So, okay, before we get to these emotional costs, the highs and lows and the real emotional toll it takes, how do you even ... We talked about ...
Lizzy: Becoming a fan?
Lissa: Becoming a fan.
Lizzy: All right. What's your origin story, your fan origin story?
Lissa: So, I was born and raised Salinas, California, Central Coast, California. And the closest sports teams to us were the 49ers and the Warriors. Actually, some people ended up being Oakland Raiders fans.
Lizzy: Oakland Raider fans. Yeah.
Lissa: But, yeah, my family wasn't. My family, my dad, my brothers, they were 9ers fans. And so, it also is interesting because it's that era. The 9ers won.
Lizzy: They were good.
Lissa: They were good. Okay. Obviously, I was a baby in the '80s, so we were good in the '80s, but in the '90s it still carried on. That was the last Super Bowl.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: So, it was like I'm, what, 7, 8 years old. My team is winning the Super Bowl. All right. And my close family, we're all rooting for the same team. We are locked and loaded. I'm going to be a 9ers fan.
Lizzy: Okay.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: So, I have a stat here that 28% of people pick their fandom based on where they grew up.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Home team, and then 24% choose to follow the same team as their parents. So, over 50% it's accounted for. And then I think the rest is a lot of what you described of who's good at the time or they admire a certain player.
Lissa: Or the opposite of what your family and parents want.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: I've seen that a lot.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: Yeah. For some reason you mad at your parents and they're rooting for this too.
Lizzy: Yeah. You're like, "No."
Lissa: You purposely going to go ...
Lizzy: Against them.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah. For sure. And so, I think that's pretty common. I grew up with the experience of my family I grew up in, we watch sports, but there weren't teams. No one had a team. My dad, stepdad didn't really have a team. He liked players, which is like now he has a team. But I was always like, "How do you pick?"
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And he would always hate on the home team. He'd be like, "I hate homers. Fucking homers." Because he'd be like Lakers fans are just the worst. And so, I grew up in that environment of like, "I don't really have a team. I had players." And that's why I almost hesitate when I say Laker fan, because I grew up not being a fan of the Lakers. I was a LeBron fan. He was my favorite player.
Lissa: But not Kobe fan.
Lizzy: I wasn't until later. He didn't resonate with me like the way he played. I was a LeBron fan all the way through. And then he came to the Lakers. I was in a relationship with someone who has the Lakers tattooed on their back and it was just like, "All right."
Lissa: I'm rooting for the Lakers.
Lizzy: I'm rooting for the Lakers. But I'm not as passionate about it.
Lissa: You're not emotionally tied to them. Yeah.
Lizzy: Not in the same way. No.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And then similar with the 9ers, I didn't have a team. You were a 9ers fan. I didn't watch football like that. I always followed it loosely. But I didn't get really into it until I was with this person that they were a 9er fan. And that's when I really started to get into the game and appreciate it and learn it and play it. I started playing flag football and really loved it and loved sharing that with that person.
Lissa: And just went and rooted for the best team.
Lizzy: Yeah. Well, actually my first season that we were trashed.
Lissa: Oh, okay.
Lizzy: So, I started, I will not a total Fairweather fan, because I had a season where we were garbage.
Lissa: Okay. All right. You came in during a garbage.
Lizzy: I came in during a garbage season. Yeah. So, it just worked out that way. And then I got the team in the breakup.
Lissa: Yep. Yeah. Man. So, I mean, that's one of my teams. And same with NBA for Warriors. If you were in the Bay Area or adjacent to that area, you're a fan. But for the longest time, we were trash. And then we became good, this is in my adulthood now where we had all this Splash Brothers era and now people hate on you for being a fan when it's like ...
Lizzy: No. That's a long-term investment.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: You paid your dues. So, when it finally pays off and the team becomes good, that's the best. It's like got it from the mud.
Lissa: The thing is, it's interesting because like you said, a lot of people pick their teams off of geography and some places have so many teams.
Lizzy: Have multiple teams.
Lissa: And in other places some states don't even have a team.
Lizzy: I know.
Lissa: It's crazy.
Lizzy: We got an embarrassment of riches here in LA.
Lissa: Yeah. So, one thing that's interesting on the whole, do you follow the same teams as your parents? Is my nephew. He is a 49ers fan. His dad is not. His dad is a Colts fan and then he is also an Arsenal fan, which is great. Aligns with me, Allan.
Lizzy: That's so cool.
Lissa: I was curious as to like, "Where did this come from?" And I think it's his friends at school and they live in northern California.
Lizzy: So, that's the environment. Yeah.
Lissa: And then, it's what I've been doing every year, yeah, you got your auntie every Christmas giving you some piece of 9ers gear or something like that and you're proud to wear it.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: Yeah. So, I think I've solidified him. He's like nine years old right now. I think it's set in stone. If he were to change, I'd be disappointed.
Lizzy: Yeah. Locked in. That's locked in for sure. Yeah.
Lissa: Okay. So, there are different ways that you can become a fan of a team and it could happen early in your childhood, sometimes it could happen later.
Lizzy: Later in life.
Lissa: But you have this emotional tie.
Lizzy: Girl.
Lissa: You have this emotional tie.
Lizzy: Yeah. It is an investment. It's the weirdest thing. Oh, my God.
Speaker 3: Story time story.
Lizzy: This is really funny. So, I have four brothers. My older brother, Evan, grew up playing traditional sports and then lost interest in. He played football, basketball and then got into surfing and different stuff. And now, to this day, he's really more into martial arts and whatever. But during the pandemic, at one point, he's not a social media person, but he posted on Facebook, "I can't think of anything more pointless than sports championships."
And the hilarious part is if you know my brother, it was probably not something he felt very passionate about at all. It was just like a one-off comment. But my boyfriend at the time and my stepdad who are very similar, both saw this and were privately stewing over it, so offended and mad and making these fake arguments in their head of how to rebut his opinion that it was stupid.
And then they both realized that each other was feeling the same way and it became this big thing and a joke in our family like, "How dare you say this thing that means everything to me is useless and pointless?"
Lissa: Yeah. But it's interesting because what did we say, two in three Americans are sports fans, that one in three is still a big chunk of people. And that one in three who don't care for sports, I don't blame them. They're interested in music. They have other things they're interested in. They just don't get the competitive nature of people tackling each other over a ball and things like that.
Lizzy: Yeah. It's just not captivating to them.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Or I think there's people who are very casual fans who if something's on, they'll watch it, that's how I was. There was always sports on in my house, so I was always paying attention to it, but I didn't follow it. I didn't read about it. I didn't really give a shit who won or lost. So, I think there's a lot of that, too. That's a very casual observer.
Lissa: Yeah. That's interesting though because then you have some people in your family who are completely detached from the emotional tie of it. And you have some that are so deeply entrenched in the emotions of sports.
Lizzy: I mean, sports is like with my mom, my younger brother and my stepdad, sports is like 90% of our conversations. We went to dinner on Saturday for my younger brother's birthday. The entire time, it's this restaurant we go to regularly where we know the bartender and we sit at the bar and he walked in and he's like, "All right. So, what are we debating today?"
Because last time we were debating who is your top 10 NBA players of all time? And there's sports in the bar and we're all we're talking about is sports. And that's cool. I love sharing that with them. The part where it gets bad is that they like different teams than me and they will talk so much shit to me. When the Eagles play the 9ers or the Eagles are better or whatever, the Lakers, anything that's happening is not pleasant to watch a game with them because of the amount that they talk.
Lissa: Oh, my gosh.
Lizzy: Or in the Super Bowl. Oh, my God. When we're imploding and the ... was that 2019 Super Bowl? 2019? 2020?
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: When we lost, my younger brother was there and just, he makes fun of me to this day of seeing me get quiet and deflate and it's so painful.
Lissa: So, this emotional cost. That's what I'm saying, it's highs and lows. It's like you feel ...
Lizzy: It's an abusive relationship, man.
Lissa: Right. Well, okay, before we get to the abusive relationship. It's like what we were talking about on our episode on collecting stuff. It's something you do because you enjoy it. It makes you feel good. There's a community around it.
Lizzy: It's a community. You're a part of something.
Lissa: You're part of something.
Lizzy: Something to follow and to be invested in and to care about and have enthusiasm about.
Lissa: But can it consume your life?
Lizzy: Absolutely. Absolutely. For sure. And there's levels to this. So, I think you and I are not even close to the level of super fans that some people are. And still, for both of us, there's times where I'm like, "I just got to let this go."
Lissa: Yeah. Well, I'll be honest. So, the last two NBA seasons, and so for context, I know we're leaving out a whole bunch. There's so many sports out there, we're leaving out ...
Lizzy: It's easiest for us to talk about football, because we're both bigger football fans than any other sport.
Lissa: Yeah. And we talk a lot about basketball and NBA and WNBA because we both play basketball.
Lizzy: Play basketball. Yeah.
Lissa: But yeah, I love watching all sports.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: But I will say that the last two or three seasons for NBA, I've pretty much skipped out on watching until playoffs. And for NFL, I do watch on Sundays, I'll dedicate that to watching NFL except I'm right now middle of studying for an exam, so I can't give up a whole Sunday and not study. And so, the time.
Lizzy: The time.
Lissa: The time, there's so many games on. And then if you watch games, when are you going to have time to binge-watch TV shows and Netflix? It's like time is a huge cost.
Lizzy: It is a time factor and lifestyle choice, if you're a football fan. We have a friend, we play a Sunday basketball league and they're like, "It's football season, I'm not playing."
Lissa: Yeah. He's resting the season. I think he has an injury, too. But he also, I think he goes to Rams games and ...
Lizzy: Yeah. He has season tickets.
Lissa: Yeah. He has season tickets.
Lizzy: And he's like, "I don't want to miss Sunday football." And it's a lifestyle thing. It's something that you look forward to for all off season. But it is a big-time suck. And this hasn't been my personal experience. I try my best to watch games. But I actually haven't watched the last three weeks because of just not being in a situation where I could, really. And I don't love that. But it is what it is. But I know people and have dated people where they're life will revolve around the schedule.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And to where it becomes probably a social problem. It affects their relationships, because they're not willing to compromise on that. And that's challenging. Because if it's something that's important to you and it's a hobby and you're interested in it and three hours out of the week or something, that's not unreasonable. But at the same time being that rigid can cause some turmoil, especially if you have someone in your life or friends or family or partner or whatever that doesn't understand it.
Lissa: Yeah. Well, I know a couple where the guy is super, super into sports and the partner, she's not at all. And then it's just like there's this magical month or two in July and August where there's less sports. There's still baseball and other things.
Lizzy: The dead zone.
Lissa: But it's more dead. So, it's like, "Okay. You get to spend more quality time during those months."
Lizzy: It's real. That's real. It affects relationships, for sure. And it's interesting being a woman who likes sports and I've pretty much exclusively dated men who like sports, I think, almost. And men perceive that differently. So, I think some men don't want to share that with their partner. It's their own thing that they do by themselves. And they're like me time. But it can be a big commitment of time. So, that would be a hard thing, I think, for me to navigate of, one, if we're doing this together, if you're into it, too. But otherwise, wow, this is a huge part of your life away from me.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And there's levels set that are really healthy, but it's a time commitment, for sure.
Lissa: This is so random and I have two, I guess, deep cut costs.
Lizzy: Okay. Deep cuts.
Lissa: Deep cuts.
Lizzy: I love it.
Lissa: Deep cuts. So, one, the cost of being a big sports fan of a specific team is the cost of your objectivity when it comes to a couple things. So, I have, one, is like, let's say you do sports betting or you're in Vegas or wherever and you do things like that. So, one, some people stay away from their teams altogether because they can't remove that emotional aspect.
Lizzy: Or they don't want to jinx it.
Lissa: They don't want to jinx.
Lizzy: I don't want to jinx in my team.
Lissa: Yeah. Or you don't want to jinx it.
Lizzy: I will not bet on my own team.
Lissa: So, you'll never bet on your own team. But another example I have on that is a story about one of the homies. We play fantasy football. He had a slump of always being last place for a couple years in a row. This was like 10 years ago. And I would always make fun of him because he would always pick up all the players from the Dallas Cowboys. And I'm like, "I don't think you can win. Especially if the Cowboys aren't doing that great because they're basically fantasy, you get points scored based on how well the players do."
Lizzy: And not all players on ... Even if they're great.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: There's a limited number of snaps.
Lissa: They're not all going to score. And yards and ...
Lizzy: And yards. You can't have eight players on one team are going to ball out every week.
Lissa: Yeah. I'm like, "Oh, my God." Because you're so deep. You love your team and you believe in them so much. So, you pick these players to be on your fantasy squad. Because on fantasy, if you are not familiar with it, you get to pick players from all the teams to make basically team your super team.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: But if you're picking all players from your own team because you're being subjective about it, then you might be shooting yourself in the foot.
Lizzy: Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, and I think even just the cost of being objective and rational in general of having arguments where you're so biased and other people can see it, but you lose any sense of objectivity and it's so emotional and their reason goes out the window. And that one thing that reminds me of is superstitions. So, I said, you're not going to jinx me or the number of times I've changed at halftime because we weren't playing well and I'm like, "This is not the fit for this day. I got to change." Or you have to wear a 9er gear. I cannot act like it didn't cross my mind that we lost and I wasn't wearing 9er gear.
Lissa: So, you can't not wear it again. Especially if we make it to the Super Bowl.
Lizzy: Exactly.
Lissa: It's your fault.
Lizzy: Yeah. Or this was my favorite story when we were at this playoff game and we were down, was it me and you? We left or it was just me? We went to go to the restroom and get some water.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: In that short process. We scored twice and came back and I was like, "Oh, my God. We can't go back to our seats."
Lissa: We can't go back to the seats.
Lizzy: We are the jinx. We are the reason we're losing. If we go back and we even so much as turnover and downs or whatever, we're going to sit in the car and we were dead. We are committed to this. We are not going to be the reason our team loses just by us watching.
Lissa: So, yeah, going back the emotional cost, the stress, the guilt.
Lizzy: God, the stress.
Lissa: Yeah. The shame. If you wear a jersey and you're out at the bar and your team loses and the rest of the day people are going to be like, "Hi."
Lizzy: Nah. I rep it. I rep it. The day after we lost the Super Bowl, I posted a picture of my jersey, I'm a fan regardless.
Lissa: Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying don't rep it, but people are going to try to ...
Lizzy: They're going to talk shit to you.
Lissa: Attack you. Yeah.
Lizzy: And that goes both ways. That's a benefit, too. There's a comradery. There's a built-in connection and fandom with fans of the same team or fans of other teams of like, "We are all part of this subculture." And I actually think about the benefit of that in terms of business. The amount of calls I'm able to hop on and be one of the guys talking about sports in a business meeting and just shooting the shit, it's really beneficial.
That is actually a huge advantage certainly as a woman, but just regardless to have that small talk and connection and be like, "Oh, I saw the Bears, whatever," and just share that in the sales process.
Lissa: Knowing what teams someone supports, let's say your boss or other executives at your job or other companies and partners and people you might potentially have a deal with, it goes a long way.
Lizzy: It's deep.
Lissa: It's deep how much you can benefit from either a shared fandom or just respecting and appreciating someone else's.
Lizzy: And respecting. Yeah. Acknowledging it, having that little banter.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah. That's a huge benefit. But the flip side is that when you're not doing well, everyone's going to talk shit to you. Yeah. For sure.
Lissa: Oh, my gosh. Man, that's crazy. I didn't even think about that. But I saw it.
Lizzy: It's really lit up. Yeah. For sure. And I think it's an interesting experience being a female fan in sports. I think that has its own costs of people mansplaining stuff to you, assuming that you don't know, even if you do or not everyone, but a lot of the time. But it can actually be a big benefit in definitely in business and navigating different worlds, for sure.
Lissa: Actually, to counter the ... So, yes, I think it's a benefit, especially when you're a woman, because traditionally people assume women aren't sports fans, but check the stats there are ...
Lizzy: Yeah. Absolutely.
Lissa: Yeah. Women are sports fans in every sport.
Lizzy: Significantly across the board.
Lissa: And growing.
Lizzy: And growing.
Lissa: I would say. Yeah. But I would say I do think there's an advantage and benefit to women who have huge sports fanships and know a lot about the game. And this is something that I pitched to a homie who she's also a huge Arsenal fan and she knows everything about the players. She talks about them. She can break down what happened wrong in a game. And I'm like, "Girl, you need to make a podcast about it because there are going to be some people who are tired of hearing all these guys talk about what went wrong with Arsenal and they just want a different perspective and a different take and a better voice."
Lizzy: And just someone who resonates with.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: So, Allan, my fiance, he listens to this one Arsenal podcast that their episodes are like 90 minutes long. He'll listen to it all the way through every week. And he actually hates one of the co-hosts. He's like, "This guy annoys me." And I'm like, "Yet, you give them all this watch time or this?" And I'm like, "So, next time anyone ever doubts whether they should make a podcast or YouTube channel, look, people who don't like you will still listen to you."
Lizzy: Listen to you for 90 minutes.
Lissa: "And you can still end up getting paid off of it." But anyway, so I'm like, "That's an advantage for her." And there's another person I follow on TikTok ... Gosh, I'm blanking. Mariah Rose, Jalen Rose's daughter.
Lizzy: Oh, yeah. For sure.
Lissa: So, Mariah, she posts videos. She had this video months ago that was just a PowerPoint presentation explaining what the different positions on the NFL team do because some women are interested and want to know, but no one's ever taken the time to explain it in a way that makes sense to them.
Lizzy: For sure. That feels accessible. That doesn't feel judgy or condescending.
Lissa: Yeah. And it's fun.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Yeah. So, I'm like, there is a huge market there and that's why I'm glad. I think across the board there are more commentators and people on TV, women, and it's not that necessarily that you have to have played the sport to know about it.
Lizzy: For sure. Yeah. Absolutely.
Lissa: There's more opportunities. And that wasn't the case for a very long time in media.
Lizzy: Certainly not when we were growing up.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah. Absolutely not.
Lissa: You can never think about a commentator job ...
Lizzy: Yeah. No way.
Lissa: ... growing up. So, anyway, a little bit of a tangent. But I like that sports, it really unites everyone. It's not just a guy thing anymore.
Lizzy: Yeah. Not at all. Not at all. All right. Back to these emotional costs, because there's so much we could say.
Lissa: Gosh, yeah.
Lizzy: I got to ask, and I know the answer. Have you ever cried from sports?
Lissa: I'm about to cry right now.
Lizzy: Being a fan ever made you cry?
Lissa: I'm about to cry right now off of the last Super Bowl. Still hurts.
Lizzy: It hurts.
Lissa: Still hurting. Of course, I've cried. Of course, because you get so close. You get so close. And here's another thing, sometimes I'll cry because I was so invested in something and especially when it's like the championship game. But what makes me cry more than anything else is seeing when the players are crying.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: They got their head ... And I'm like, "Oh, man."
Lizzy: Like you want it for them, you care.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Okay. That reminds me of something kind of a tangent.
Lissa: What?
Lizzy: And by the way, I have a great picture of you crying after a game that I might have to throw in. I've told this story before because it's related to you meeting or dating Allan. But anyway, the negativity that you feel when you hate another team or another player that is irrational, like hating the Cowboys, hating Nick Sirianni because he's got a punchable face, just hating people.
But one thing I've realized over the past few years that's just kind of funny is there's a show called Hard Knocks that introduces you to a team in their pre-season and you get to know people you wouldn't otherwise know. And just like anything else, it humanizes them. And so, watching the Dallas Cowboys on that, who I've just hated forever, and I'm like, "Ah, shit, I actually kind of like them." Because they're just normal people. And it's a weird thing to have this arbitrary hate. And hate, I use loosely, but some people don't use it loosely.
Lissa: Yeah. They actually hate.
Lizzy: Yeah. But there's negative energy based on nothing. You don't know these people. It's silly. And yet we harbor these feelings.
Lissa: Well, I will say that's how I used to feel about LeBron. And then over the years, you follow him a little bit more. You get to know him outside of the basketball court. I might not like how he flops or used to flop a lot, whatever.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: But over the years you get to know him as a person. Whatever they share publicly and like, "Yeah. They humanizes them. You like them." So, it's not from a actual place of hate and disliking someone as a human being. It's literally for the love of the game is you take them.
Lizzy: Right. And putting them in a box that they're different than what you like, which is I think a lesson for anything in life is once you actually get to know someone, usually, you find a lot of commonality.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Wait, so what is this picture of me you have of me crying?
Lizzy: When UCLA lost to Gonzaga.
Lissa: Oh. I remember that. Yeah.
Lizzy: It's a cute picture. You look adorable.
Lissa: I don't even remember what year that was, but yeah. That's because UCLA similarly in basketball has gotten so close so many times.
Lizzy: Girl, so close. Yet so far. Okay. On that note, because as I mentioned in a different episode, that was the day that you told me that you loved Allan before you guys were officially dating. And so, I'll never forget that. And then, obviously, he was not a American football fan, basketball fan, you were not an Arsenal fan. How has sports fandom affected dating for you?
Lissa: Oh, man. So, I mean, you said too that you've always dated people who are into sports or whatever. I think similar for me because it's such a big part of my life. It was interesting that Allan and I don't like the same sports, but over time we've gotten to each other's teams.
Lizzy: Yeah. So, yeah. I had always thought even very recently, I don't think I could date someone that's not interested in sports because it is a big part of my life, a way that I spend my time. It's something I'm passionate about, something that I share with my family so much. However, I recently dated someone who was not into professional sports like that, more different sports. And I didn't care at all. Now, maybe eventually it could have been an issue or something.
Lissa: Yeah. Lifestyle-wise.
Lizzy: Lifestyle-wise, but yeah, at face value, I was like, "That's not what's important." So, that was interesting. Yeah.
Lissa: All right. 20 cents.
Lizzy: Hoo. Let's do it.
Lissa: All right. 20 cents is the segment of the show where both Lizzy and myself, Lissa, get 60 seconds to give our 2 cents on today's topic. Whether it is a net positive or a net negative. Where does 20 cents come from?
Lizzy: Because you get the opinion of two dimes, y'all.
Lissa: All right. Today, we are talking about sports fanships. 60 seconds on the clock, are sports fanships worth it?
Lizzy: Duh. It is a no-brainer for me. For me, personally, even the pain, the heartache, blood and tears, it's fun. It's something to give a shit about that's additive to a Monday night, a Thursday, a random day. It just adds another layer of something special into my life. It's something I share with my closest friends. And my family and even the pain and the financial cost is worth it for those highs and just the experience of being a part of something. So, for me, it is no-brainer. They're worth it. All right. What about you? Are sports fanships worth it?
Lissa: Quickest one ever, but yes, net positive. But same reasons as you. I think if I didn't grow up with it, I'd feel differently. But because I did and I've grown those emotional ties over the years, and I love the aspect of hanging out with friends, hanging out with friends, watching a game of something is so much ... I'd say more social than watching a TV show because you get to talk in between it and have conversations in between plays.
You don't have to necessarily be listening to the screen or same thing with going to a game. It's like such a great experience to feel the energy. So, yeah, I think it's worth it. I don't spend a ton on it, like I used to. It's like if I buy one jersey, I'm not going to get rid of it. I'm going to have it until it ...
Lizzy: For life.
Lissa: Yeah. For life.
Lizzy: Right. Yeah.
Lissa: Yeah. Net positive.
Lizzy: Hoo. Net positive.
Lissa: Yeah. So, but that's what we think. We don't judge y'all if you don't like sports. But if you want to join the right squad ...
Lizzy: Join us.
Lissa: ... 49ers.
Lizzy: Let's go.
Lissa: So, that is what we think at this moment in time. I'm pretty sure mine will stay the same forever.
Lizzy: For life, baby. For life.
Lissa: But what do you think? Are sports fanships worth it?
Lizzy: Hit us up. Let us know what you think. DM us on Instagram @netnetpodcast or email us at hi@netnetpodcast.com. And if you want to follow us individually, here's where you can find us.
Lissa: I'm @wealthforwomenofcolor on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
Lizzy: And you can follow me @live_well_lizzy on Instagram and TikTok.
Lissa: All references, statistics and resources mentioned can be found in our show notes. This podcast is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, and should not be constituted as financial advice. Remember to always do your own research, consult a professional as needed, and feel empowered to make your own damn decisions.