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I think you nailed it.

"They can be seen as a form of religion, in some sense."

In my family it was Sunday School with mom and then football with Grandpa and Dad.

Football is kind of like drinking...even if you don't like it at some point it is easier to just pretend and fit in.

It also has something more fundamental than religion... it is tribalism. Us versus them. You get to be part of the accepted in-group, and get to hate the out-groups. That kind of need is wired deep in people's brains.

Ideally, all this effort would be put towards a more productive end, such as rooting for your local FIRST robotics team.

Have you ever heard of Dunbar's Number? http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

I have. You'd think that sports team fanbase membership would not work at the scale it does. But I guess it serves as a means of establishing common ground quickly.

Though, since we're all humans, you'd think we have enough common ground with each other anyway, what with death, taxes, relationship problems, etc.

And if you do it enough, you might end up liking it anyway.

Happened to me. I like drinking and (college) football, especially together, even though I can see the negative utility of both.

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