What Makes Someone a Fan?

Recently, the New York Times published an interview titled, "What Makes Someone a Fan?" The article argues that sports fandom extends past ticket sales and finds its roots in emotions, identities, and tradition. My co-author (and daughter) Reiko and I have been analyzing what we call Fanocracy for five years now, and while we agree with much of the NYT article, we believe the power of fans goes way beyond sports.