‘You can rent it for a while,but it is our house’: Sports fans’ experience of returning ‘home’ to a new multipurpose stadium

Abstract

Understanding how stadium landscapes are constructed and used, how their elements relate to the broader local fan community is to understand a good deal about the culture, values and concerns of the people who use it. Yet, despite the unique role sports stadiums have in facilitating a memorable match-day experience, theorising this space remains underdeveloped. This research investigates contemporary stadium design and use from a fan perspective by examining the factors that enhance and inhibit the experience in a newly built multipurpose and shared stadium space. The research illustrates how transitioning to a new stadium involves a complex paradox between old traditions and new spaces. This paper has two objectives. First, it explores how the fans of an Australian rugby league team reimagine the concept of ‘home’ in a newly built multipurpose and multi-tenanted stadium. Second, the paper explores how this sense of home and, by extension, belonging was amplified by the club’s ‘dressing’ of the stadium. We argue that in the resettlement of fans, the use of symbols and rituals provides a scaffold for supporters to build an emotional connection to a new stadium, whilst also understanding that they, too, are active in the process of reimaging the stadium space.