The Kansas City Royals are a tried and true baseball team. Through the ups and downs of their season, their fans have proved their loyalty and continued to cheer them on. In an article posted online, for two years straight, the Kansas City Royals fanbase "has been rewarded with a spot in FanSided's Fandom 250, and finishes No. 182 overall in the Fandom 250" (KingsofKauffmann). From a long awaited return to the World Series in 2015, to a current season of rebuilding, Royals fans have stuck around for it all. Growing up in Kansas City, I have joined many other fans and watched numerous season of Royals baseball. Since I now am at school eight hours away from home, I wanted to have an extra way to keep up with all of the excitement around our hometown team. In order to do this, I joined The Official Kansas City Royals Super Fan Page on Facebook. This page was created by fans in Kansas City who wanted to create a community around this team. After being a part of it for a while and talking to a few of the people involved in the page, I have grown a new appreciation for this page, this team, and the fans that make it a community.
Behind the Screen
The Official Kansas City Royals Super Fan Page is housed on Facebook. This page is a public group, meaning that anyone can see the group, the members, and all of the posts within the group. Although this page is public, you do have to be approved to become a member of the page. Currently there are 5,953 members, with four different admins and moderators. Members of the group can post photos, videos, or anything else that is Royals related. Although none of the actual players or coaches are members of this fan page, there are a few players who have family members that are a part of the community. Members can join this group simply by searching for it, or being added by one of their friends. The one rule of the page is “please, no bad language and try to keep a good attitude. We want to keep good vibes for our Royals and Royal fans!” This page has been around for almost 10 years, and by having it on Facebook allows people from all over to connect about one topic they all have in common.
Marty Carpino is an admin of the Facebook fan page, and was actually the person who created it 10 years ago. In an interview, Carpino said that he created this page because of his love for the Royals, and he has been a loyal fan through all of their rollercoaster seasons. He wanted to create this page to make it a “go to” for Royals fans everywhere. One of Carpino’s jobs on this page is to set guidelines and goals for the page that all members are supposed to follow. “Our mission statement is to be friendly and kind, we can differ, but respect others feelings.” By creating this mission statement, Carpino has set the tone for this page, and a starting point for the creation of a community within this page. All though there are over 5,000 people that are a part of this page, Carpino and other admins do their best along with the other members to make this page feel like a real community. Carpino said “we have a great connection with our Royal family. A lot of us are friends now, not only on this page but our own profiles. We meet each other at games, and even sit together if possible.” Carpino has gone beyond just being an admin, and you can often see him post his own thoughts or opinions on this page, creating interaction with the other members here. Carpino and other admins of this page have all come together to create this feeling of community within this group, and have allowed fans to come together outside of the page to cheer on their boys in blue.
Interaction
The types of fan interaction on this page are numerous. Members of this page interact mainly by posting a status about a player, game, or something in the news that is concerning the players or the team. Usually once one person posts, many other members follow by adding their own comments to the post. A majority of these posts do bring uplifting comments, but a few times fans show their frustration over a game or or an error a player made. Along with posting a simple status, fans can also share video highlights or pictures from games or issues with players as well. One die hard fane Jane Harmon shared how she interacts on this page and why she is a part of it. She said “ I like how everyone is positive and they share good information about the team and the players and their stories- they show they are real people. I love following and learning all about the people.” Harmon has been a member of this page since it first began, and has grown up watching the Royals for many years. Harmon interacts with other members of the page by liking and commenting on their posts, but not posting herself. “I have rarely posted, and would only do so if I was attending a game” she said. By interacting in this way, she is sharing her opinions on what other fans are interested in, and has been able to make connections with the people in this page. Other fans can be seen interacting in this way. In order for a sense of community within this page to exist, people have to share their thoughts and opinions and interact with one another. Carpino also interacts with members of this page, and one might say he is one of the biggest “post-ers” in this page. Carpino said “I try to add my opinions and how I see a player or situation. Sometimes we tend to forget that every player is out there trying to do their best.” This statement about the interaction on the page allows people take a step back and see how their interaction is affecting the community as a whole. Looking back at all the interaction on the page, each one has a specific purpose. Without a post about the frustration of a loss, fans wouldn’t be able to come together and share their grievances, or be able to talk through it with one another. On the opposite side, a post about a win allows the members to all be excited and celebrate a win together. Lastly, a post about news concerning a player allows a wide group of people to be informed and get their questions answered about what is going on. Each type of interaction within this page is intentional, and has a specific purpose that also helps establish a sense of community.
Interaction on this page really sparks whenever a member posts something that carries weight with it. In the post below made by one of the members, you can see the interaction amongst the group. One of the hometown favorite players of the team, Salvador Perez, has recently been injured and will not be able to play immediately in the 2018 season. According to an article from the Kansas City Star, Perez was moving luggage into his house where he fell and tore a ligament in his knee. Many fans were saddened to hear this, but a recent post on the Facebook page got fans excited. As you can see, by making a post about Salvy's return to the diamond, members of this page became very excited and commented on this post. This kind of interaction can be seen throughout this community whether it be exciting news like this, or sharing in the frustration of a loss of a game.
Along with this type of fan page, there is also another Royals online community that I found that contrasts this page. RoyalsReview is another online space where fans can read articles about the team. This type of community differs from the Facebook page in many ways. On RoyalsReview, fans can only post long articles that they have written and not just short comments like the fan page. By only being able to post in this setting, this page seems more formal and less like a community than the Facebook page. The Facebook page creates more conversation and personality than this other community does. RoyalsReview also contains many outside links to Yahoo Sports articles and other pictures taken by fans as well. This page serves more of a purpose to house a ton of information in one place, rather than showing personal interaction between fans. Although they are both communities about this team, each one is different and contains different types of interactions between fans.
Conclusion
After spending some time talking to members of the page, conducting my own research, and observing the page itself, I have seen how this Facebook page has created a real sense of community amongst these members. There are many other places they could go to talk about their love of baseball, but the use of this Facebook group allows people from all over who love the Royals to come together in one place. The accessibility of this page is so easy that a simple interest in a baseball team has turned into this community for members of this page. This page is special because it is more than just a place to talk about baseball. Members of this page feel safe and comfortable talking on this page, and that is evident in what they post. Some people aren’t afraid to say what they really mean because of the environment of the page. By being a member of this page, fans can come together and bond over one topic they are all fond of. One thing that stuck out to me was a comment from Harmon about the community aspect of this page. She said “there is a big sense of community on this page. It pulls people from all walks of life that are fans and brings them to one place. I knew one gal on here only from this page, and when she had some health issues the community of fans here came together to support her when we all maybe didn’t know her personally.” To me, that is what makes this page different than any other fan page. The fact that something so little as a love for a baseball team can bring people together in that kind of situation is so cool and different. Although this is just another Facebook page, it brings out a community that some didn’t know was there, or that they were even contributing to. Without this page, fans wouldn’t be able to come together in this way and share their excitement and frustration of Royals baseball. It allows fans from virtually anywhere to come together and cheer on this team as one community, and one Royal family.
References 1. Interview with Jane Harmon- April 11, 2018 2. Interview with Marty Carpino- April 11, 2018 3. Kansas City Star article 4. Kings of Kauffmann fanbase article 5. RoyalsReview fan site 6. All Facebook images are screenshots taken by Abby Fauss 7. Header image- taken by Abby Fauss on September 3rd, 2016