How Match-Day Cultures in the USA and UK Have Fundamental Differences
It’s quite amusing to think that the colloquial name of the water between the USA and Europe, especially the British Isles, an ocean, is ‘The Pond.’ Something so simple feels incredibly striking. However, it implies a level of legacy-level familiarity that somewhat sweetens the rapport between two nations that have diverged so much from each other despite a shared legacy.
Sports are, quite often, a major cultural denominator that sets the tone for how a society understands its pastime. There’s rarely as much of a unifying factor as rooting for the success of the same sports entity. It can also be very divisive, which is what modern online discourse seems to imply these days.
One of the most interesting aspects that we see in the cultural differentiation of the two major English-speaking nations from the two sides of the Atlantic is how they approach the matter of attending live sports events. Naturally, it revolves around major factors that we can identify from points of view that have more to do with sociology than many other factors.
However, there is nothing stopping us from simplifying the matter. After all, experiencing sports is mostly about having fun and living passionately, plenty of moments that our favorite athletes contribute to. As we’ll see in this article, this process is more than just checking on football odds and yelling at referees. It’s about the entire build-up during match-day!
The Nature of the Reigning Sport
The first thing that sets the tone whenever there is a pre-match build-up is to analyze the nature of the sport that the people are following. In general, we see that the most-watched sports, be it in person or during live broadcasts, are those that have the most established roles in the overall sports culture.
We need to establish what we’re talking about in this article. Firstly, the NFL’s average viewership from 2024 showcases that gridiron football is far and away the most popular sport in the US of A. However, this does not even account for the local attendance of college (university-level) football, which is a bigger regional thing in places like the South than in other places. This proves that the sport is the most popular at both the amateur and professional levels.
On the other hand, the UK, especially England and Scotland, is all about association football. It’s almost amusing to think how incredibly massive the Premier League is nowadays. Even with a 10% drop in global viewership during the 2024/25 season (when compared to the previous one), the league is still absolutely massive day in and day out.
It’s no wonder that those who can afford to enjoy the experience of live attendance are so happy about it, even when the on-pitch product can falter when compared to the hype. Yes, attendance is becoming more and more expensive, but both sports have the advantage of more grassroots-level events happening.
Most American states have several Division I university football programs that provide competitive and cheaper attendance options, providing a level of local pride that provides both representation and entertainment.
It’s the same way that the UK has many local football clubs in middle and small towns across a highly urbanized landscape, with London being the huge metropolis with numerous local allegiances. There is local pride and intense competition across numerous league stages, opening up attendance opportunities.
Tailgating vs Pubs: A Matter of Different Drinking Matters
Alcohol ingestion is an inevitable reality of sports attendance. It’s an interesting matter when you go look into the aforementioned sociological factors. However, the ground-level aspects of how things work with drinking in stadiums are a different matter between the UK and the USA.
Per British legislation, you cannot drink inside a pitch-facing football arena in the UK, London included. On the other hand, downing beers and getting giddy in an American stadium is completely allowed. According to a study on male alcohol consumption patterns inside American major-league events, drinking is a very normal, outright widespread instance.
This is why you get such an interesting divergence between American and British behavior. As you may know, Britain has a very strong pub culture that has permeated throughout the world. Being a combination of the bar and restaurant/diner model, it provides a familiar and welcoming atmosphere, with sports watching being one of the main unifying factors.
Since alcohol consumption within the stadium is impossible, loading up before kick-off has become a ritual. Attending with a group, or just partaking in an atmosphere full of fellow fans of a team, is a certain rite that brings an identity by raising the idea of belonging. It’s a simple but tried-and-tested format of getting ready for a game.
In America, tailgating is yet another pre-game ritual. As we will discuss, the suburban nature of American stadia means that there aren’t too many options for drinking close to the stadium. On the other hand, parking options open up spaces for fan-led events in which there is a festival-like atmosphere. Fans gather in a neutral spot, bring their own contribution in terms of drinks and food, and enjoy a pre-game atmosphere in the hours leading up to a match.
The purpose and function are the same. We can double down on the American side by saying that there is a certain tie to the cost of alcohol consumption with a stadium. This turns tailgating into a cheaper, more community-based event.
Geographical Realities
Geographical realities begin with the fact that the fandom and representation of a team is more than just a matter of local pride.
Collegiate sports are one thing, but the American major league sports world has been full of business-first decisions that have led to relocations caused by market opportunities and failed stadium deals with local authorities. Moreover, states without major sports representation see fans from distant states root for teams that are geographically far from their favorite teams. Gathering in parking lots outside stadia makes the city itself somewhat secondary to the team itself, dislodging the idea of community due to long distances and creating a level of commuter culture.
In British football, the location of grounds conceived, developed, and renovated within city limits makes them intrinsically connected to the community. It means that getting ready for a match is like going out on any given day or evening, especially in tight-knit communities, but even in a Londoner context.
When there is a matter of traveling to an away match, doing so within Britain means that there are familiar settings in terms of pubs or other gathering spots. The footprint of pub culture in Europe gives British football fans the possibility to find similar options even when they’re traveling outside their country.
It’s also a matter of distances. In many cases, attending an away game for Americans means traveling hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. In Londoner and other British cases, driving just a few hours is a mid-to-long commute. These are elements that instill a level of effort that may stimulate or inhibit one’s willingness to engage in activities leading up to the match.
The Culture of Transportation
Dealing with geographical realities is intrinsically connected to transportation. In Europe, Britain included, public transportation is a much more developed and popular solution, even if the UK is not necessarily at the top of the list in terms of available and efficient options. Moreover, the short distances between cities and towns make commutes very easy.
On the other hand, multi-day drives in America are a commonplace reality. It requires a level of planning that is rarely easy. Moreover, we need to return to the matter of suburban stadia. American cities with major league football teams have tremendous metropolitan areas, creating the need for transport to a ‘local’ team. Brits may see this commute as being as far as traveling for an away game.
What this tells us is that car ownership and driving are inevitable for American sports. As such, making full use of parking lots is what drives the impact of tailgating culture as the main ritual in American match-day culture. Having to drive so much brings a level of connection to an attendee’s car, turning the parking lot almost into a hotel, with each car being a room.
As such, the connection to the transportation means, its availability, and feasibility is a fundamental connection.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve looked into the match differences, it’s important to note that these are contextual factors that depend on context. Given that there are different matters that influence match-day attendance and traditions, we can see that British and American experiences are quite different in applicability.
