As a win-or-lose fan, you scorn anyone who arrives after the first play and leaves before the game is over. But every team needs some bandwagon fans.

A bandwagon is typically defined as someone who has had no past loyalty to the team, they are not familiar with the history of the team, and probably don’t actually know the players.

Bandwagon fans are most likely to be found at games when the team is doing well. More wins mean more people will come to the games. While bandwagons might not bring the most loyal fans to the games, they brings boosts in sales.

More people typically means more money which produces more tickets and merchandise sales. The team also begins to be more widely recognized and their team gear is being purchased and worn. Therefore it is well represented.

Putting it into perspective ,when any of the Bay Area teams’ (the 49’ers, The Giants, San Jose Sharks, and Warriors), fans tend to pop up out of nowhere, seats are quickly filled, and ticket prices rise.

In October 2010, the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series title since 1954. In this same year, they began a 530 consecutive game sell-out streak. This was the longest lasting in the national league until July 17, 2017.

In 2011, after the World Series-winning season, the average attendance at AT&T Park began to increase. According to the Giants record, there was a jump between 2010 and 2011 in average visitors per game from 37,499 to 41,819.

For the following years, the Giants, on average, received over 41,000 visitors per game. The 2017 season held an average of 40,786 visitors per game, this was the first season since 2010 in which the Giants had an average attendance below 41,000.

In the 2017 season, the Giants ended in the last place in the National League West with a 64-98 win-loss record. It is no coincidence that attendance went down, the same year that the Giants’ record declined.

There is no doubt that Bay Area fans hopped on the bandwagon, but is this the worst thing? Sure, you have people acting like they know everything about sports, but you also have a team that is making more from ticket sales, as well bringing more business to local business.

Pete Osborne owns three restaurants: MoMo’s, Pete’s Tavern and Pedro’s Cantina, all within a block of AT&T park. In 2011, following the 2010 World Series, Osborne said to CBS Bay Area that “his business was up about 50 percent from the previous year”, and is anticipating a “huge start to the season.”

In addition to increasing sales at both AT&T Park and local businesses, bandwagon fans are also uniting with the real fans to bring a bigger sense of community to San Francisco.

Bandwagons are inevitable, before you start bashing on every bandwagon around, just think of the last sports championship parade you attended. More than likely, not everyone there was a loyal fan, but everyone brought the fun and the high-fives.