Audience performance and sports fandom rhetorics during 2020 presidential election debate watch parties

Abstract

People who participated in the 2020 US presidential election debates by organizing or attending debate watch parties provide a case study of audience performance and fandom. While political fandom has been thoroughly documented as a phenomenon, I continue the conversation by showing what localized audience practices look like vis-à-vis physical and virtual debate watch parties. An ethnographic narrative excavation of debate watch parties, compiled from participant observations, field notes, and interviews, reveals three roles that audiences performed as they participated in these 2020 events—Marketeers, Public Seekers, and Activists—as well as how the rhetorics of sports fandom can contribute to the affective environment of an election. These audiences demonstrate the concept of creative narrative appropriation, particularly in the blending of electoral with sports spectatorship. By framing debate watch parties within narratives of sports fandom, these audiences help us better understand how debate watch parties facilitate political engagement in electoral politics.