![]() ![]() There are several key factors behind British football’s soaring fan engagement in Asia, but one of the key reasons is just the Premier League got in there first. Since 2011, soccer viewership in India has grown by 134%. In India, some 170 million fans tuned in for the first ever Indian Super League two years ago and football is now the second most followed sport in the nation. That figure is set to soar to more than 480 million by the year 2020 and – at present – most of those fans get their League match fix in Hindi. India is home to some 170 million fans, a sum greater than all the fans in the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and USA combined. While China’s 400 million football fans are arguably the most passionate in the world, other Asian countries have also seen tremendous growth in fan engagement. ![]() According to sports research company Repucom, more than 820 million of those fans follow the Premier League. British football in Asia has enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years, and Asia’s total soccer fan base is already estimated at more than a billion. In fact, they’re not even in Europe – they’re located up to 5,000 miles away in China, and they’ll be watching the matches – in the early hours of the morning – in Mandarin. Iron Fans are not, as you might suspect, in the UK. But what’s fascinating about Iron Fans is not how much they love the game, but where they are. When the 2016-17 Premier League season kicks off on August 13, the Iron Fans will be glued to their screens. But in the end, these are people showing their love for what they enjoy, and I think anyone who is a comic fan, movie fan, Star Wars fan, or, to a lesser extent, a Harry Potter fan, can really relate to this amusing, and insightful rah-rah documentary that brings a better understanding of what a fanatic is.They’re known as Iron Fans, football enthusiasts whose passion for the Beautiful Game – and the Premier League in particular – makes them among the sport’s most ardent and valuable followers. But “Fanatical” examines everything from the mascots like the Title Town Green Bay Clown, The Arrow Man, Cowboy Bob et al, from their sacred rituals, team rivalries, clothing, collecting, and the love and care that they put in to their costumes. ![]() “Fanatical” doesn’t spoof these people, nor does it make fun of them, it merely depicts them as individuals, and respectable individuals whom have an obsession-but that’s not to say Brian Unger’s narration isn’t a hoot to listen to (“What would these people be without Sunday? And the six days leading up to Sunday?”). I understand sports fanaticism though, speaking as one who comes from a family of sports fanatics, the people who become crushed at their team’s defeat, gleam at the team wins, and discuss trades like it’s the fate of the world, so I was able connect to “Fanatical” on a somewhat personal level. “Fanatical” is assuredly in the tradition of such popular fanatic examinations like “Trekkies” and “Ringers” in which it profiles a number of people, and a fan base, and examines and observes their obsession, their passion, and the sheer lunacy of their mania that occasionally dips in to the frightening. But “Fanatical” is not a film you have to be a sports fan to watch, “Fanatical” is a film that asks you to watch these fanatics, these people whom devote themselves to something, and have such unending passion for that they just can’t explain. I watched it for an inordinate number of years, raving and screaming at Sting, and Hulk Hogan, but I’ve never been a fan of any sport, nor do I really understand the specifics that are required to know when watching baseball or football. The closest I’ve ever come to being a sports fan was during my childhood when I used to watch WWF and WCW pro-wrestling, religiously.
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