How people raised and living in Ontario became fans of non-local National Hockey League teams

Much of the research on how people come to support their favourite sport teams focuses on fans who attend games in person, thereby creating a local bias. Little is known about the process of how people raised in the vicinity of a team reject the local option in favour of supporting a distant team. In order to learn about this phenomenon, 20 Canadian ice hockey fans of non-local National Hockey League (NHL) teams raised and living in Ontario were interviewed. Six reasons for supporting their specific distant team were given by at least a quarter of the fans: an attraction to a specific player, the team's colours/uniform, the team's logo, meeting the team's players in person, seeing the team play in person and the team's status as an underdog. The findings provide further insight into why fans support the teams they do.