‘We can’t participate like this at football, can we’? Exploring in-person performative prosumer fandom at live PDC darts events

Abstract

The nature of prosumption is one of the most important areas of debate within the study of contemporary consumer culture. David L. Andrews and George Ritzer highlighted how the majority of literature in the 21st century has focused on the sociology of sport as a form of consumer culture, and that there is a distinct lack of research into the exploration of fan atmospheres in regard to physical prosumption at live sports events as opposed to virtual spaces. We seek to address this through utilising findings from a 3-year ethnographic study at a range of live Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events across the globe. Our findings extend existing knowledge on prosumer fandom, providing valuable insights for researchers on how sports organisations, when promoting their sporting event, utilise the fans as both producers and consumers to help create fervent atmospheres and market their sport to associated media outlets.