The sports teams we support say something about who we are. Our identities are bound up with the men and women who play for our side – and we experience their success and failure as if they were our own. But, if supporting your team is so important, how can there be so many people who think these contests are of little consequence? Sandra Kanthal explores why we care so deeply about the outcome of a game.

Michael Sandel, professor of Government Theory - Harvard University
Dr Martha Newson, cognitive anthropologist - Oxford University
Dr Alan Pringle, faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences - University of Nottingham
Stephen Reicher, professor of Social Psychology -University of St Andrews
Matthew Engel, sportswriter and author of That’s the Way It Crumbles
Nisha Nair, assistant professor of Business Administration – University of Pittsburgh

(Photo: Pakistan cricket superfans. Credit: Mohammed Arif, ECB National Growth Manager, Diverse Communities)