It’s something that bonds people around the world. It’s something that brings people together to have a good time. It’s something that promotes getting out and exercising. It’s called sports. For centuries, sports have done all of the above and more. While most people don’t realize it, the sports fans are just as unique as the sports themselves.

A sports fan is someone who enjoys watching any particular sport. They could even be a fan of more than one sport. Sports fans watch sports on different levels of enthusiasm. Lesser sports fans follow their favorite team(s) but don’t necessarily pay a large amount of attention to the sport itself. Average sports fans watch a few games here and there and will devote a few hours to doing something that involves their favorite sport, but they don’t devote their entire lives to the sport. Then there are the die-hard sports fans. These fans will constantly keep tabs with their sports team, start a fantasy league, watch every or almost every game their team is in, and basically just devote an extremely large amount of time to sports. However, all these sports fans share a common bond when it comes to sports.

Not all sports fans come to like sports in the same way, however. There are a variety of ways to get attached to a particular sports team.

The first kind of sports fan I’d like to mention is the one that likes a specific sport team from the beginning of their life. These fans branch out into three different categories. The first category of born sports fans is the one influenced by his or her birth city. These kinds of fans like the team that represents the city they were born in. If they were born in Boston, they’re a Red Sox fan, if they were born in Madrid, they’re a Real Madrid fan, etc. The second category of born sports fans is the one influenced by the first game he or she watches. This memory of a specific team sticks in their memory for the rest of their life. The third category of born sports fans is the one influenced by a relative. Their parents or other family members convinced them at a young age that one particular sports team is the best in the world, and that they should like no other team.

The second type of sports fan is the one that develops a favorite team through months or possibly years of watching all the teams in the league. These fans pick out their favorite team based on things such as playing style or players.

The third type of sports fan is what I like to call “the camper”. These people pick out whichever sports team is either doing well this season or is liked by many other people. You can spot these types of “sports fans” by the fact that they seem to change jerseys every season. Most, but not all, campers are not really sports fans but rather people who want to look cool by supporting the best team there is. Campers are often considered by real sports fans as fake sports fans.

And thus, there are the three main types of sports fans. We are all out there, whether we hide our team pride or not. What kind of sports fan are you, and what is your favorite team(s)?