Disabled People’s Experiences of Sport Spectatorship

This article explores disabled people’s experiences of sports spectatorship, focusing on the barriers to participation, inclusion, and accessibility they routinely encounter in this environment. In many Western nations, progress has been made in addressing barriers in other areas of social life, including housing, transport, and education. However, access to leisure – including sport spectatorship – remains an ongoing challenge. In examining these issues, we deploy a theoretical framework that draws on the social relational model of disability and the concept of ableism, which exposes how societal structures and attitudes privilege non-disabled individuals. Furthermore, we conceptualise accessibility not as a static endpoint, but as a dynamic process that requires stakeholder negotiation. Utilising Nind and Seale’s (2010) multi-dimensional model of access, we examine the physical, attitudinal, and procedural barriers to sport spectatorship that disabled people encounter. These include inaccessible transport, insufficient accessible parking, poorly designed entrances and seating, as well as challenges in accessing information about sports events, building relationships with stakeholders and negotiating the process of advocating for improved accessibility. To illustrate the importance of addressing these barriers, we outline how sports spectatorship can foster social inclusion for disabled people. This includes an overview of the Shippey Campaign, which resulted in the creation of sensory viewing rooms in English football stadia, as an example of how improving access for neurodiverse people can positively impact their lives. To conclude this entry, we identify avenues for future research that could help address the concerns of disabled spectators.