Is there a song that could describe many professional football fans, including those who love the Indianapolis Colts?
Maybe the 1973 song “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder would work.
In conjunction with KRC Research, Bud Light has released the results of a fun survey that shows the superstitious behaviors NFL fans conduct to influence the outcome of games involving their favorite teams.
Among the findings of the unique survey is that nearly half (44 percent) of male Colts fans in the survey and 39 percent of female fans wear the same article of clothing on game day believing that doing so will help the team win.
“I wear the same sweatshirt for every game and, if they win, I don’t wash it until they lose,” one anonymous respondent noted. “It doesn’t matter how dirty it gets.”
Another Colts fan confessed that he always wears a Colts jersey and “kisses” a poster of the Colts horseshoe with his hand, adding “we also have celebrations we do when the team scores.”
Over the summer, researchers gathered opinions from about 10,000 adult NFL fans who responded anonymously to online questions about how rituals and superstitions – such as wearing dirty jerseys, saying certain phrases or cheers and kissing team trinkets – that impact their enjoyment of football.
“The results provide a fascinating glimpse inside the minds of NFL fans all over the country,” said Andie Raffles, a spokesperson for Bud Light and KRC Research. “We are talking about fans who will do whatever it takes for their team to win. After all, it’s only weird if it doesn’t work, right?”
More than 50 questions were asked, and out of that, an “NFL Superstition Index” was created, which calculates the superstition level of each NFL team’s support base by incorporating the game-day habits of each fan and gathering them into a score from zero to 100.
What would it take for the Colts to make it to the playoffs this year; some kind of new offensive strategy? Instead, what about a group of fans doing a particular routine whenever the team scores?
“When a field goal is kicked, everyone in the living room is required to raise their hands while screaming,” a 21-year-old respondent wrote. “I mean, it really works.”
