Istanbul United: Football Fans Entering the 'Political Field'

Although studies on how Turkish football fandom has been affected by hyper-commodification are few in number, it is fair to say that the economic transformation of the football sector in Turkey has rendered this sport a less affordable form of leisure for the lower economic classes. Frequently attending games or watching them on television requires a certain amount of disposable income, which has created two types of football fans: those who have access to games and those who do not. This distinction was created decades ago by the lack of fandom on the local level and the over-centralised character of Turkish football. Therefore, it can be said that while the three major football clubs have millions of fans, those who can attend games frequently constitute a privileged layer. This layer is, in fact, one of the objectives of hyper-commodification, as season tickets and ID cards are used to gather information about these fans in order to develop marketing and security strategies.