If the Blue Jays get knocked out of the playoffs, their fans will likely overeat the next day, according to a study by Assistant Professor Yann Cornil of UBC’s Sauder School of Business. Regardless of the sport, ardent fans tend to drown their sorrows in comfort food after a loss.
The study looked at food consumption of American football fans the day after a big game, and found that fans of losing teams overindulged, while fans of winning teams ate better than usual. The findings also held true for French soccer fans.
Cornil explains why a team’s performance affects their supporters’ diets, and what fans can do to mitigate the effect.
Why do sports fans overeat after their team loses?
Being a sports fan can be a major part of a person’s identity, so when the Blue Jays lose, their fans don’t say “they lost” – they say “we lost.” That’s a stressor because their identities as supporters are being beaten down. One of the most immediate ways of handling stress is by eating – stress eating. So after a loss, sports fans will eat more, and the food they eat will be less healthy. Owners of greasy spoons should take note, as they could draw in extra customers by targeting dejected fans – and similarly, health food marketers could drum up business after the local team wins.
So fans eat better than usual after a victory?
Yes, although the positive impact of a victory on eating habits isn’t as strong as the impact of a team’s loss. The impact of a win could be explained by the positive feelings of validation after the team plays their best. If eating healthy is important to a sports fan, then that validation can motivate them to pursue their long-term goals by eating well.
If their team loses a lot of games, is there anything fans can do to stave off this overeating effect?
When faced with a tough loss, sports fans need to remind themselves that sports aren’t everything in life. In the study, we found that if fans of losing teams gave some thought to other things in their life that were important to them – in psychology we call that self-affirmation – the negative impacts on food consumption disappeared. So if you have a friend who’s down in the dumps after their team gets knocked out of the playoffs, try asking them, “What else is important to you in your life?”