Fans bond through struggles
Phoenix natives Justin and Lauren Perry wandered around the Super Bowl Fan Experience in the Phoenix Convention Center wearing their bright blue Carolina Panthers jerseys in hopes of getting an autograph from their current favorite player, Brian Burns. The couple represented a theme that outsiders see when looking into the Phoenix area: natives rooting for an opposing team.
In a sea of people, Cardinals jerseys were outnumbered by a large number. The Cardinals were as well-represented as the New England Patriots, a team that is 2,772 miles away.
Building a community around one team in Phoenix has been challenging. The four major main men’s professional teams have failed to show the type of consistency needed to build a culture of success.
The Cardinals have the third-worst winning percentage in the history of the NFL. The Diamondbacks have a sub-.500 franchise history winning percentage, although they do have the state's only men’s major pro championship. The Coyotes have reached the playoffs once since 2012 and are currently playing in an arena on the Arizona State campus as they work toward a securing their next permanent home rink.
The Suns, Phoenix's original pro franchise, have shown the most recent promise, making the NBA Finals in 2021, and recently traded for NBA superstar Kevin Durant. That, in combination with a new owner, Mat Ishbia, has fans feeling hopeful for a consistent run they haven’t had from the Suns in a long time.
“I woke up and I was ecstatic,” lifelong Phoenix native and Valley sports fan Dylan Gibson said. “I want a championship in the Valley. I need a championship in the Valley.”
That die-hard fan base in Phoenix got a taste of glory in 2021 when the Suns were up two games to none in the Finals on the Milwaukee Bucks before dropping the next four and ultimately losing the championship series. Now the fans want it all.
“I want to make the NBA Finals,” Gibson said. “That has to be our goal now. We shouldn’t settle for less.”
For many fans that hunger and desire for a championship stem from 2009, when the Cardinals made it to the only Super Bowl in franchise history. The team ultimately lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that taste of a championship has proved to be enough for fans to hang on to their fandom.
“Larry Fitzgerald played here for his entire career,” Cardinals fan Selena Fernandez said. “He’s an example of someone who was committed to us, so we have to be committed back to them. Win or lose, rain or shine, I will be there.”
Fans have linked that 2009 Super Bowl team to the 2021 Suns: two teams that made it to the championship but ultimately fell short. It’s a feeling that has been felt far too often for many fans of the Phoenix area.
“I just feel like we are always so close to something special,” Cardinals season ticket holder George Rodriguez said. “The (2009) Super Bowl, and then we started out so good last season, and now Kyler (Murray) gets hurt. We just get so close.”
That feeling of being so close can either bring fan bases together or tear them apart. But one sentiment rang true through fans from the Valley: the struggle strengthened the bond with their teams.
“You can’t change where you are from,” Gibson said. “Through thick and thin, through wins and losses, you have to stick with it. That’s true fans and that’s true love. That’s what the Valley is all about.”