In sports, athletes know that the possibility of being injured during play is almost inevitable and sometimes cannot be avoided.  But what happens when that same inevitability of being injured applies towards the fans that pay to watch those athletes?
Over two weeks ago, a Minnesota Vikings fan was beaten by several San Francisco 49ers fans at Levi’s Stadium after the 49ers had won 20-3.  The 49ers pleased their fans by smoking the Vikings in the season opener, yet that was not enough for some to refrain from senselessly attacking one individual.
This is a tragic, yet common occurrence, at sporting events in the Bay Area, which brings up a major issue with fan safety. Fans rooting for the opposite team are targets for harassment and sometimes even assault.
In 2011, there were three fans hospitalized after a 49ers preseason game versus the Oakland Raiders. Yes you read that correctly, a preseason game, a game that has absolutely no impact on either teams’ regular season record resulted in two men being shot and one severely beaten.
I can testify to this culture of fan harassment and violence because I have been involved in occasions at both Raiders and 49ers games. I have had food thrown at me for rooting for the opposing team and had fans say some awful things to me just because I was not wearing their team’s colors.
The worst of all was having a grown man insult me in the bathroom at a Raiders game when I was about 13. It is a real shame to have people like that go to games and represent the fan base of their teams the way they do.
It is not enjoyable to pay a lot of money to go watch a game and be insulted, especially if you begin to fear that you may not be safe.
Sadly, the professional baseball teams from the same cities also have their fair share of fan violence as well.
In 2008, a fan died after being punched in the face at a San Francisco Giants game versus the visiting Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park.
Fan violence has even reared its ugly head during title celebrations, where everyone is supposed to gather and be excited for their team’s championship run.
After the San Francisco Giants won the World Series last year, fans decided to celebrate the team’s achievement by throwing bottles at police officers and traveling in mobs around the city. Two people were shot and one was stabbed in all the chaos.
Even the Golden State Warriors title celebration was overshadowed by violence when a shooting broke out leaving three people wounded.  It is so awful when fans cannot even rally together to celebrate without having some kind of tragic incident.
This issue of fan violence has been relevant for quite some time now, and it hasn’t seemed to let up.  Although teams try to deter the violence through increased security measures, they cannot control the types of fans that come to their games.
The fans are the ones who need to change their ways or violence will continue to plague the teams from not only the Bay Area but across the country.