The object is the message: sports, violence, and throwing objects onto fields

Violence in sports in general is well documented in the research literature, including violence among specific audiences, and its manifestations cover diverse categories of dysfunctional behaviors worldwide. The current research offers a focused examination of the practice of throwing objects onto playing fields, with the aim of gaining in-depth understanding of the motives of the object throwers, and as a by-product, to identify and categorize the types of objects thrown, and the circumstances and contexts in which they are thrown.

Analysis of in-depth interviews with fans who reported throwing objects onto sports fields indicates that throwing objects onto the field constitutes a practice that is used to reinforce a team’s boundaries and its stress its differentiation from other teams. Fans consider this practice as a sacrifice they perform for the team, and the objects that are thrown are not randomly selected, in that they express a message that the fans wish to convey.

Findings of the current study indicate that the practice throwing objects onto sports fields is driven by three main motives, each of which is associated with the use of distinct objects that are thrown onto the field. Throwing objects onto fields functions as a practice of protest (against the team players or the referee, reflecting frustration), as a practice of ownership (primarily against the rival team, in an effort to influence the game), and as a practice of superiority (again, primarily with the aim of humiliating the rival team).