Abstract

This article examines how spaces of fandom in the English Premier League (EPL) have developed over the last decade in light of globalization processes and technological advancements. This conceptual paper thus utilizes the existing literature and frames these insights to outline emerging ‘offline’ and ‘online’ spaces of fandom in the English football’s top-tier. It is argued that these under-explored spaces have been enacted by broader, powerful processes and the two spaces – the fan zone (‘offline’ space) and the independent Fan TV (‘online’) do now comprise two important spaces that add vibrancy, meaning and socio-cultural elements to the practice of ‘being’ a fan. Crucially, the article ties into and extend current debates around the technology-fandom pair. It sustains that, in order to understand contemporary fan culture in the EPL, these spaces must, increasingly, be considered as sites for collective and individual identification, the performance of fandom and social interaction.

摘要

本文探讨了在过去十年中，随着全球化进程和技术进步，英超联赛 (EPL) 的球迷空间是如何发展的。因此，本概念性论文利用现有文献并构建了这些见解，以概述英格兰足球顶级联赛中新兴的“离线”和“在线”粉丝空间。有人认为，这些未充分探索的空间是由更广泛、更强大的过程制定的，而这两个空间——粉丝区（“离线”空间）和独立的粉丝电视（“在线”）现在确实构成了两个增加活力的重要空间，意义和社会文化元素对“成为”粉丝的实践。至关重要的是，这篇文章联系并扩展了当前围绕技术与粉丝对的辩论。它坚持认为，为了了解 EPL 中的当代球迷文化，