Leadership / 09.28.23
Exploring the Worsening Trend of Bad Fan Behavior at Live Events
Teddy Durgin
Etiquette at live events has become harder to control and manage post-pandemic. At concerts, fans have seemingly become rowdier than ever, yelling at artists, blocking people’s views with posters, even throwing items at the artists. In the last year, everyone from Beyoncé and Harry Styles to Ava Max and Bebe Rexha have been hit by projectiles thrown at them by supposed fans.
So why is this happening? How did we get here? Of course, homemade signs and bouncing beach balls have always been fun concert mainstays. What has changed is that due in part to TikTok, any moment of a concert can now go viral. More fans are trying to force that moment to happen with increasingly bold shenanigans.
Frank Salzano, managing partner of Salzano Ettinger Lampert & Wilson, LLP, a boutique entertainment and sports law firm based in New York City, believes the rise in violence against artists at live performances can be attributed to the close "access" fans feel like they have nowadays.
"Fans have 24/7 connectivity with their favorite celebrities through social media platforms, which is the driving force behind this phenomenon," Salzano recently told Newsweek. "This 'access' results in fans having a false belief that they have a right to act out as they see fit, often crossing a clear line of decency, including — in some instances — rising to criminal behavior. These acts of violence will likely result in heightened security and more restrictive rules during concerts."
Indeed, responses have varied. More and more artists themselves have been getting proactive. Adele, for instance, attempted to use humor to address the ongoing issue during her Weekends with Adele Las Vegas residency. In a clip (profanity warning) shared on social media, she spoke to the crowd while comically holding a big T-shirt gun.
Others have gone the more emotional route. After a 27-year-old man was charged with assaulting pop star Bebe Rexha in New York back in June — he threw his phone at her on stage — she canceled the show and later displayed the extent of her injuries on Instagram. Tim McGraw, meanwhile, went on CNN to speak about the concerning trend of concertgoers throwing items at artists while they are performing ahead of his forthcoming tour dates. And Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers just recently sent out an S.O.S. to ask fans to stop throwing things on stage after two bracelets almost hit him at a California stop on the group's tour.
The bad behavior is not just limited to concerts. Live theater has also been seeing increased instances of bad behavior. Perhaps the most notorious recent example was U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) being kicked out of a performance of the musical “Beetlejuice” in Denver for inappropriate behavior. She and a male guest were ejected during a Sept. 10 show for vaping, singing loudly, recording video and disturbing other patrons.
Boebert and her campaign manager initially denied that she was vaping and said she was removed for being too loud and having too much fun. But surveillance video obtained by the Denver TV station 9News showed the congresswoman openly vaping during the performance. Boebert was ultimately forced to apologize for her behavior as reported by the Colorado Sun.
The trend is not just limited to America. London-based actress Alice Fearn, who has starred in the musicals “Wicked” and “Come from Away,” says audience behavior has worsened since the COVID-era lockdowns and is a result of people bringing a “Netflix mindset” — thinking they can talk above a whisper, check cellphones and behave as they would in the comfort of their homes — to theatres.
While attending a performance of “Pretty Woman” in the West End, Fearn told The Guardian that she saw audience members joining in with famous lines from the original 1990 movie starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. “Are we going to see that happen in a Shakespeare sonnet if you happen to know the lines? I hope not!” She and other theatre professionals assert that if someone causes serious disruption in a theatre, they should be barred from other area venues with a shared list among operators.
The behavior has gotten so noticeably bad that, at Broadway shows, Playbill inserts now remind people to turn off their phones and let the actors do the singing.
In movie theaters, meanwhile, bad behavior as a result of the “Netflix mindset” has been happening for some time. In response, some cinema operators are posting videos to teach people how to behave. Others are offering social-media photo ops in the lobbies, such as the giant “Barbie” doll toy boxes popularized by this summer’s biggest hit motion picture. Staff training is also stepping up. Alamo Drafthouse, a theater chain where patrons can order alcohol and food at their seats, instructs its staff to issue a one-time verbal warning to any guest who’s disruptive at the movies before a second offense warrants ejection from the theater.
Perhaps nowhere has bad behavior by fans and attendees been so bad for so long than sports. Violent fan behavior is a gameday tradition all sports security professionals are trying to limit or eliminate altogether. The problem exists at all levels. An uptick in the frequency and intensity of bad behavior in recent years at high school events prompted the New York State Public High School Athletic Association to recently craft and approve a spectator sportsmanship policy that is scheduled to go into effect at the start of the 2023–24 school year. The one page, three-tiered policy establishes guidelines for the discipline and reprimanding of poor behavior by spectators. Those bad behaviors range from verbal harassment to the use of sexist and racist language to harass athletes, coaches, officials and other fans.
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) has seen a significant rise in fan ejections since stadium COVID-19 restrictions ended. In response, the association has implemented a $250 fine going to the school when a fan is ejected. TSSAA said the main goal is to ensure schools handle their fans in the stands better. Some locales, like Knox County, are opting to have the ejected fan pay the fine and take a series of online sportsmanship classes before returning to sporting events within the county.
The National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), meanwhile, explored solutions during its “Behavior in Sports Summit: Understanding Your Influence” back in August in Indianapolis. The Summit brought together high school leaders for two full days of speakers and panel discussions to address behavior issues at high school sporting events.
In Oregon, House bill 2472-2 seeks to implement “equity-focused policies” addressing the behavior of college sports fans attending games at Oregon’s public universities. The legislation would create a formal complaint process and reporting system for instances of bad behavior and require schools to conduct an annual survey of students and athletes and annual report to the state legislature.
But, of course, the most headlines are garnered when an incident of bad fan behavior happens at a National Football League game. At a recent game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots in Massachusetts, two fans were recorded fighting in the crowd. The fight was unusual in that it involved two women, and they were both Patriots fans.
Later during that same game, the ultimate tragedy occurred when a Dolphins fan beat a Patriots fan to death in front of his son. The worst part is that in both cases, no one near the fight intervened. In the case where the fan died, many took out their phones to record the brawl rather than take action to stop it.
Nearly a decade ago, Ray DiNunzio, the NFL's director of strategic security, took several steps to ensure a safer environment for the fans in attendance at the nearly 300 regular and postseason football games each year. With the common theme in many incidents being intoxication, the NFL set rules of when to cut off alcohol sales, generally after the third quarter. DiNunzio also pushed to get fans into stadiums earlier, opening the gates earlier and providing more entertainment value to entice people out of parking lot tailgate parties.
Overall, there is a need for harsher consequences for such behavior. Just two years ago, for instance, a fan threw popcorn at Russell Westbrook and was banned for life from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Teams and venues should not shy away from publicizing such incidents, too. With technology, it’s easier than ever to identify those who behave badly. Fans must realize that unruly behavior will be met with harsh punishment. Such responses may never stop such behavior, especially with alcohol being sold at live events. But it could go a long way toward minimizing the problem.
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Tags: Leadership , Safety