30 The Unique Fandom of the Vegas Golden Knights

Everybody on earth is a participant in an audience. Each is unique in size, feel and location but all come together to view or participate in events. Sports audiences are home to most of the biggest audiences and history has a lot to do with that. A league that has been home to the world’s best hockey players for over one hundred years like the National Hockey League has hundreds of millions of fans that are participants of all kinds, in this audience. This is a big deal because when an expansion team like the Las Vegas Golden Knights joined the league 6 years ago they were born into an audience while also now being able to add and create onto it. The Las Vegas Golden Knights’ participatory culture develops as a vivid tapestry of allegiance and expression in the dynamic sphere of sports fans. This essay focuses on exploring this audience’s unique fandom, why it matters and how it is different from the other 31 teams in the NHL, looking at the past 24 months which included a Stanley Cup Victory will allow for a thorough investigation of the “enunciative” and “textual” productivity that defines the nature of this audience and its fandom. By exploring the platform X, I will be able to offer a “Thick Interpretation” of the Golden Knights’ fandom activity, while also getting to understand the identity of the fans. This analysis is more than just a description of the Golden Knights following; it is also a critical assessment of its relevance in the context of sports culture and online community dynamics.

The city of Las Vegas is known for its beauty and luxury, and for many decades has been home to spectacular and remarkable hotels, restaurants, and most notably shows and entertainment events. This bright refuge in the middle of an arid desert, filled with lights nick named “The City That Never Sleeps” is a stage for world-class performers and a tourist destination for people from all over the world. It’s a city that not only embraces but also redefines glamour with each passing show and new extravaganza. This new spectacle on ice is so different from the other teams in the league as it truly interweaves with Las Vegas, the city it was born. The city is full of dreams and dream chasers, couple that with the passion of the patrons you have an amazing identity.  The Knights embodied this from the jump which has caused their fans to show their enunciative productivity through their consistent advocation for their team in public places. This isn’t just within the boundaries of “hockey spaces,” this is everywhere, including social media, like this fan below who is letting the world know that the fandom they have for the Knights won’t stop, even though sleep will definitely be lost for their showing of active participation towards the knights.

Everyone who is a fan of hockey and their team’s brand doesn’t have the passion that the Golden Knights fans do. This is understandable but it’s a reason they are superior, here is a quote to enhance the context provided, “Fandom is a complex construct, representing a consumer’s level of interest, involvement, passion, and loyalty toward entities ranging from activities to people to consumer goods” (Kunkel, 2022). The integration into the city helped the Las Vegas Golden Knights who joined in the summer of 2017 and hit the ground running.  Engelland, a Las Vegas local said,

“From the ticket drive to the hype around town, everywhere you go, you see Knights stuff. Hats, shirts, everything. Talking to people around the rink and anywhere, they’re just excited for a team and I think it’ll go really well” (Larkin, 2017).

With the team having success from their first season, making it all the way to the Stanley Cup final the fans were brought together quickly.  The ordinary fandom that is seen around the league with many of the other teams involves fans being casual in the way they watch, represent, and discuss their team. With the instant success along with the passionate city they were born in, the Knights’ fandom quickly moved from being made up of ordinary fans and now had fanification. The active support that was seen exemplified the fanification that was now being shown and the supporters as a whole now were dedicated fans, representing the team online and in person. Along with this, the games themselves had fans becoming prosumers, producing content while they were consuming the game.

This creates such an insane draw for the live viewing of their games at their arena, T-Mobile arena, and having a seating capacity of only seventeen thousand seats there is an overflow. The stadium has purposefully been configured for the people of Las Vegas, this includes the sale of tickets and is the main reason the building is full every night. Here is a quote to further this point, “Their logo and gift shops are everywhere around town, and they played to 104% of capacity during the regular season with a fan base deliberately built around local residents rather than corporations or casino-owned seats” (Elliot, 2023). This sparks the participatory condition in the fans, and the Las Vegas strip is forced to host watch parties where fans from everywhere can congregate and share in their fandom for the Golden Knights. A hockey fan and journalist, Rachel Doerrie had this to say about her experience with the watch parties in Vegas, “I checked in on five of them to gauge interest, and every one was at capacity. In a place where casinos, shows and nightlife own the town, the Vegas Golden Knights have a firm grip on the sports scene” (Doerrie, 2023). This is an outing for these fans and because of their diehard support for this team there is an affective sensibility that comes into play. The winning or losing of this game will affect the moods of these fans causing them to continue their night out on the strip or to be upset at the loss causing their night to be over prematurely and they go home.  Here is an example of this from the 2019 season.

The online discourse and variety of ways to watch the Golden Knights live draw a large portion of their fans to be tribal fans, they are so invested, and their fandom reaches much further than what a casual fan would be or how they would act.  Adding the semiotic productivity that the team has with their colours and logo; fans instantly feel this is their team and can relate to it because of the semiotic significance that the colour gold has in Las Vegas. In this lively city that is always moving and growing because of the visitors and residents, the Vegas Golden Knights fans stand out by the way they make their support for the team a way of life. A testimony to the love they have, even sleep will be lost out of love for the team’s presence in their city.

Sports Fandom is known as being a place where people are their most passionate, expressive, and joyful because of their love for their team. This description that is used to describe one’s fandom, has a direct counterpart known as, anti-Fandom.  In many cases, this phenomenon is regularly rooted in dislike or even hatred towards the team or players on an opposing team from which you support. The Vegas Golden Knights are no stranger to this and are a perfect example of a team that has incredible fandom, the largest in their sport currently, and anti-fandom that also reaches similar heights.  This anti-fandom isn’t something that slowly grew over time. Just like the success and fandom exploded from the onset so did the anti-fans, “Many believe that, after their success right out of the gate, Golden Knights fans have grown a sense of entitlement, failing to realize that the league put them in a great position to succeed right from the get-go” (Pankiw, 2022). This hatred is rooted in large part jealousy as the majority of teams haven’t seen their team reach success like that of the Knights in decades of their team’s history. And for a brand-new team to have it is divisive and creates anti-fans. As we are starting to uncover the difference between fandom and anti-fandom isn’t as simple as extreme love and extreme hate. Technology has taken this many steps further as it created a space for the facilitation of both along with many other emotions to spread. This takes place at fast speeds due to the accessibility, and communities that are formed in their love and fandom of the Golden Knights and also groups hoping for their downfall.  A text titled, “Anti-Fandom: Dislike and Hate in the Digital Age” does significant work in this discourse, “Click wisely divides Anti-Fandom into thematic units that each consider a framework of this evolving communicative theory on toxic fan behaviour festering online, and exacerbated by technological reach in the Internet Age” (Castleberry, 2021). The Golden Knights anti-fans have a wide range of platforms and places digitally to share their negativity with the team. While the game is going on this happens with live tweeting negative things about the team’s players, coaches and their decisions, fans and then the outcome of the game all in digital communities that’s main purpose is anti-fandom toward the Knights. The consistency of this draws attention from the league and other teams feeling similar emotions to that of the anti-fans join in on the anti-fandom for the Knight’s.

Above is an example of the snark fandom by the Los Angeles Kings X page, likely put out because of the generic anti-fandom surrounding the team and we see them get involved by putting out a more humorous tweet towards the Knights. Mention of this team being new has been made throughout, this newness has brought with it a unique demographic of anti-fandom with it. The Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to be born in the digital era leading to a large portion of their haters being on digital platforms. A study was done on fan hatred and aging, it discovered, “The current study proposes that fan hatred serves as a mediator between age and fans’ aggression as well as fans’ perceptions of the appropriateness of physical and verbal acts of aggression” (Icekson, 2021). It also went on to highlight that older fans regularly prioritize the love of the game and aren’t as inclined to be aggressive in the way they express and how they express their anti-fandom. Ugly fandom the most extreme version of anti-fandom, according to this study is more likely to be taken part by younger fans. The Golden Knights see their social media as one of the most interacted with across the NHL and a large portion of this is caused by the aggressive younger fans who comment against all things the Knights do and are actively reposting their failures. The study suggests that, “older sport fans can play a key role in reducing the level of aggression during sport contests due to their lower levels of hatred” (Icekson, 2021). Being around for less than a decade leads to a lack of this regulation and causes the youth fans to dominate the space and all that comes with it. Teams that have a long history like those from the “Original Six” see engagement on platforms as well but the history adds perspective and reasonability against their team, which includes many older fans and this is missing with the Knights in this digital age. In essence, the Golden Knights fanbase which is comprised of fans varying in range shows displays of both fandom and anti-fandom. The size of this fandom includes anti-fans and is seen by many because of the digital age we are in. The relationship between anti-fandom and fandom is complex regarding the Golden Knights just as it is for many other massive brands new on their respective scenes.

Since their inception in the NHL the Vegas Golden Knights, have been leaving incredible impressions on and off the ice. Off the ice, we are highlighting the player’s micro-celebrity status and influence on public perception. World-class athletics is what these players are most known for but the players on the Golden Knights have broken the confines of straightforward athleticism, becoming their own brands. There is nothing typical about the golden nights and this includes the new era of hockey celebrity. These players aren’t and will never reach the level of a list actors or musicians but they are micro-celebrities that reach great audiences. The instant success of the team drew fans to them because of the charm they garnered from viewers and the underdog story they were. This narrative resembles that of the idea of self-branding, “individuals must assume control of their own brand identity to stand out in the labour market, project a dynamic and memorable image, and consistently deliver value to consumers, employers and markets” (Khamis, 2017). In self-branding the idea of controlling your own identity is at the forefront, we can see this with the Vegas Golden Knights players with their dedication to success which allows their brand to grow off the ice. This starts with their interactions with the media as well as the dedication they have to giving time to their fans who are always giving theirs for the team.

Above is one of the stars of the Golden Knights, Zach Whitecloud signing a shirt for a kid with special needs who has come to one of the teams meet and greets to meet her hero’s. Each person on the team has a unique life story and personality. Each from a different place and represent them all in their own way. This helps in creating their brand and because of its uniqueness, makes it interesting for the fans. The former starting goalie for the team Marc-André Fleury is a household name for many reasons. The first is his incredible hall of fame career that he has had in between the pipes. Following that is his unique story being a French-Canadian kid who grew up in a small town and now is an all-time great. His personality, which comes with always being one of the league’s best dressed and sporting fancy hats humanizes him and draws fans from across the world, especially the Vegas Golden Knights fans to be fans adding to his micro-celebrity. This individual branding is crucial, “the self-branding is ‘essentially an attention-getting device and is frequently sold as the key to helping the aspiring professional to achieve competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace” (Khamis, 2017). He contributes to the brandom of the Golden Knights and their social media presence. The Knights are in the top ten of most followed NHL franchises, and for a franchise this young is crazy to think about. The players are using social media to draw attention to themselves through the content they are putting out, this allows for an interactive experience between them and their fans and allows for dialogue between the two of them. This is a crucial part to growing the league and love for the sport as a whole not just their personal brands, “Digital and social media advancements are likely to further embellish an idealised experiential fandom premised on access, exclusivity, spatial proximity and (pseudo) first-person insider perspectives across fan sites that will further intensify these interactive, personalised and collective experiences” (Strum, 2020). They engage in a way that is personal and sometimes even direct, both key concepts of micro-celebrities.  A sense of intimacy and accessibility is fostered as a result of this direct contact, which breaks down boundaries that previously existed between the audience and the players on the team. This newfound celebrity doesn’t come without difficulties. Being a micro-celebrity while first being a professional athlete makes you have to keep the thoughts of others and how they will view what you put out in mind, not just your opinion. The team and league you are contracted with have sponsors and big corporations that control that don’t want things that go against their brand identity to be put out and because these athletes are a direct representation of them, it’s a tricky space to navigate. The knights players haven’t experienced any fire in this space, but it does happen. This was on display with the goaltender of the St. Louis Blues who had this to say when old tweets resurfaced and he came under fire from the media and league, “It was a while ago when I was a teenager and it was a little sarcasm, joking around, when I was a teenager. That’s what life’s about, you live and learn and you grow as a human” (Kives, 2019) said the goalie, who’s now 25. Furthermore, the micro-celebrities that these athletes are, now require them to represent the league along with their franchise with the utmost respect along with the city they are in so that they can be successful in creating their brand and being role models.  The players on the Knights exemplify this concept of micro-celebrity to the fullest with the followings they have and their interactive nature both on and off the ice.

In a city that is filled with glamour and extravagantness with the constant movement of tourists, the Vegas Golden Knights stand amongst the tallest as a beacon of camaraderie and spirit, in the hearts of so many. This essay has uncovered the different ways that an audience can be impacted by the captivating pull of a team that represents the city’s energy and toughness. The Golden Knights, who were born in the digital age, have become a part of Las Vegas, catching the spirit of a city that lives for shows and spectacles. The team’s on-ice success has been paralleled by the immense loyalty and support from the fans both in the arena and outside of it. This is a showcase of the passion that is drawn out of people through sport. This team continues to defy history and the norms that surrounded all expansion teams before them. They are not only capturing their city and fan’s hearts but also capturing trophies along the way.

References

Castleberry, G. (2021). Anti‐fandom: Dislike and hate in the digital age. Melissa a. Click. Gonzaga university, 2019. The Journal of American Culture, 44(1), 62–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.13223

Doerrie, R. (2023, June 12). What’s it like at a golden knights viewing party on the strip? The Hockey News. https://thehockeynews.com/news/whats-it-like-at-a-golden-knights-viewing-party-on-the-strip

Elliott: The no. 1 show on the strip: how the golden knights have taken over las vegas. (2023, June 11). Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/hockey/story/2023-06-11/nhl-vegas-golden-knights-stanley-cup-final-fan-favorites

How the Golden Knights became one of hockey’s most hated franchises. (2022, March 26). Yahoo Sports. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-how-the-golden-knights-became-one-of-hockey-most-hated-franchises-145604770.html

Larkin, M. (2017, August 4). The Golden Knights real target market: A city of sports fans beyond The Strip. The Hockey News. https://thehockeynews.com/news/the-golden-knights-real-target-market-a-city-of-sports-fans-beyond-the-strip

Mendes, I. (n.d.). NHL attendance analysis: Biggest risers and fallers year-over-year. The Athletic. Retrieved December 11, 2023, from https://theathletic.com/5107905/2023/12/05/nhl-team-attendance-analysis/

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Th e utility of a single-item self-perception—Proquest. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://www.proquest.com/docview/2677678682?accountid=9744&parentSessionId=JYVwhuZCVn6voczNKD%2FcfAV%2Bgv%2B53B2%2Fp1qyKZUtfw4%3D&pq-origsite=primo&forcedol=true

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@ao__3312. (2023, June 5). Gotta make sure my alarm is set in Germany so I can catch the game. X. https://twitter.com

@TheVegasManCTW. (2023, May 21). WHO ELSE IS SWEATING. X. https://twitter.com

@moviegal226. (2019, Oct 13). Who else is at the @GVRcasino Vegas Golden Knights watch party? Come sit with us, our table is going to be rocking! #VegasBorn #greenvalleyranch. X. https://twitter.com

@LAKings. (2023, Dec 28). Good morning to everyone except Vegas Golden Knights fans! X. https://twitter.com

@GoldenKnights. (2023, Dec 3). It’s a beautiful Knight to spread holiday cheer to the best fans! #VegasBorn. X. https://twitter.com