Contextualizing Fans' Divergent Experiences of Sport Activism through a Social Identity Threat Lens

This article examines how multiple intersecting social identities influence the fan experience of sport activism by incorporating the social identity approach (Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Turner et al., 1987). To do so, a heterogeneous sample of 16 sport fans was interviewed, and qualitative data were analyzed following Braun and Clarke's (2021) six-step reflexive thematic analysis. The findings revealed that participants' alignments between sport activism and personal beliefs anchored their polarized interpretations of and responses to the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Privileged critics reiterated previously found and commonly held denunciations of sport activism (i.e., sport as apolitical and skepticism toward activism) to justify their opposition to the BLM movement. Yet, we maintain that those frequently communicated responses protect threatened White participants' social identities by removing race from the equation, in part extricating race-based threats. The findings demonstrate the usefulness of interest convergence and divergence for interpreting objections to sport activism and broader issues related to equality. Moreover, this research suggests that there are opportunities for sport organizations to leverage activism to extend educational and informational relationships with fans, particularly if it is genuine and well-intentioned.