Day: August 30, 2025

From a dog saving a soccer goal to a mascot’s funny antics to a football player’s troll-tastic handshake, viral sports moments capture the world’s imagination and build bridges that span language, time zones and sport. They turn athletes into legends and create global communities of team loyalty. But while viral sports moments are often spontaneous, there are a few smart ways for teams to engineer these micro-moments.

From the 2024 Olympics to the real-life world of professional and college sports, the wacky and head-scratching moments that leave fans and journalists in stitches aren’t always easy to forget. Rachael Gunn’s breakdancing antics at the Olympics left spectators and judges scratching their heads, while late-night hosts had a field day. But the most viral Olympic moment may have come from a casual swimmer who accidentally became an internet celebrity.

But the NBA is the king of memes, as its best players become avatars and paragons, thanks to the league’s unique ability to highlight individual style. Being a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander supporter or Joel Embiid apologist says something about you; it’s almost as iconic as being a Michael Jordan fan.

But what about the rest of the world of professional and college sports? What about those who don’t have the privilege of wearing a jersey, or a helmet, or a pair of sneakers? Whether it’s a football player’s impromptu dance-off or an NFL star’s heartwarming Memorial Day tribute, these unexpected micro-moments are equally as important to the sport’s culture.

Whether they helped bring down Jose Mourinho, marched against their club owner or pushed back against plans to commercialize the game, fans have a long history of using their passion for football as a tool to fight for change. Their protest stories remind us that fan activism is far from a fad, and that it remains a force to be reckoned with in the fight for football’s future.

Christian Brandt, Maryna Krugliak and Robert Warnecke combine comparative analysis with ethnography to understand the motives and dynamics of fan protests in two specific national settings over eight years (2014-2021). The study focuses on German and Ukraine activist supporter communities, exploring how these are framed by political events and the contexts of their organization.

We find that supporters’ protests often revolve around struggles related to their club’s governance and power imbalances. But they also address wider issues of governance and representation, such as the role of non-profit organizations or the extent to which supporters’ participation in a club is encouraged by management. In addition, we examine how the way a protest story is told can affect its credibility. We find that people viewed a story that was told in a humanizing way as more credible than one that was not, but that these effects differed by political beliefs.

Gloria Jimenez, co-founder of Angel City Brigade, the Los Angeles Galaxy’s official fan group, remained silent for a full game’s worth of the team’s most recent home game in an act of solidarity with Southern California Latino communities impacted by immigration raids conducted by ICE. She says there isn’t a day that goes by when she doesn’t think of those who were swept up in the raids and the importance of standing up for their rights.