Can you change your sports team, or nah? Fan Free Agency: Reimagining Sports Fandom through the Power of Choice and Identity

For decades, sports fandom followed one rule: pick a team and stay loyal - no matter what.

But athletes get traded, franchises relocate, and values evolve. So why are fans still expected to stay put? If players can chase better fits, systems, and cultures, shouldn’t fans have that same freedom? And as one who never steers away from a healthy confrontation, I decided to dig into this heated debate.

Fandom has always been tied to identity, belonging, and tradition. But today, those connections are shifting. More fans are aligning with teams and athletes who reflect their personal values and worldview - not just the hometown zip code. Social media only accelerates this, making it easier to follow players across teams, plug into new communities, and build fan identity on your own terms.

In my latest paper, Fan Free Agency: Reimagining Sports Fandom through the Power of Choice and Identity, I dig into this exact shift—how loyalty is evolving from blind allegiance to intentional alignment. As I write in the piece, “the concept of 'fan free agency' invites us to reimagine sports fandom as a dynamic interplay of self-awareness, personal values, and community engagement, ultimately redefining what it means to belong to a team.” And to provide some color, I use my own allegiance with the Philadelphia Eagles (GO BIRDS! 🦅) as a case to explore.

Just the Super Bowl LIX MVP Quarterback Jalen Hurts...nbd 😁

If you’ve ever felt torn about your team or questioned what truly makes someone a fan, this paper is for you. So what do you think: should fans be allowed to "test out" teams like players do—or is loyalty still non-negotiable?