Why do people love following sports?

Here's a quote by Dennis Bergkamp (one of the greatest footballers of his generation) that might answer your question: "When you start supporting a football club, you don’t support it because of the trophies, or a player, or a history, you support it because you found yourself somewhere there; found a place where you belong" When a person finds a professional athlete/sports team that he/she can relate to at some level, the achievements and failures of this person/team seem like his/her own failures. Their success seems like a triumph of one's own beliefs and failure like a shock to that belief system. One more reason why people like watching sports is, the players come up with a few magical moments of supreme athleticism, intelligence and technique that the viewers can only dream of doing. These moments are not predictable in any way and leave the viewer in awe of what he/she has witnessed. Example. Sweden Vs England 4-2 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic Unbeli…:

Reality. Real people, rather than writers, determine the outcome. Barca will never lose because thought it would make good TV. That's why it's such a big deal when a bad call affects the outcome of a game. Abundant narrative. Sports produce per-play, per-contest, per-season, and long-term story lines. Continuity. If you're a rabid hockey, baseball, soccer, football, basketball, or boxing/mma fan, your favorite show never gets cancelled (at least permanently). Clarity. Actual, defined winners and losers. Despite thousands of coverage hours, the 2013 government shutdown had no clear winner. It never will. In contrast, 100% of informed fans agree that the Jets won Superbowl III. Performance. Sports frequently push human performance to the limit. Some people find this inspiring. As far as ownership, that evolves from appreciation of the preceding. If you don't feel a certain belonging and ownership when you think about your favorite band, favorite show, favorite artist, or your hometown, you've missed out on a quintessential human experience.

1.  It is a diversion from reality and their mundane lives 2. People gets to feel some level of achievement through the action of others (i.e you can be a fat slob that watches your team win the game, and get to brag the next day about how we beat them). 3.  Halo effect;  i.e.  i am a fan of the superbowl winner therefore i am a winner also.