Fan Conduct Class Blog

This is an interesting article on the Fan Conduct class program.  Now that the 2012 NFL season is over, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of the class as well as ways to improve it for next season.  Here is an exerpt from the article:

This was one of the first interviews I've had where the fan experience for me was personal.  Growing up and attending 49er games in the late 70's and 80's with my Dad was one of the highlights of my childhood.  As an adult and a mental health professional, it is very rewarding to be working with the NFL to help address issues related to decreasing disruptive fan behavior and improving the game day experience for all fans.  Its an interesting article.  Learn More here

On January 16th, Dr. Ari Novick spoke at the Annual Major League Soccer conference regarding this very important fan safety program at FanConductClass.com.  Currently, the NFL utilizes the Fan Conduct Class program and has made it a "best practice" policy for the league.  MLS soccer currently uses the program for two of its teams at PPL Park and RedBull Arena.  The presentation today was to the entire team/stadium base for U.S. soccer and the reception to the program was extremely favorable.  While fan ejections in U.S. soccer are relatively low, the use of the program should continue in their efforts to improve fan safety and the game day experience for their attendees.

The Fan Conduct Class program is designed to help educate fans about the NFL's code of conduct policy as well as a particular team or stadiums code of conduct policy.  Additionally, fans who take the class are educated about ways to improve their own behavior while attending games.  The cost of the Fan Conduct class varies from stadium to stadium, often with a portion of the class fee going to a national or local charity of choice selected by the NFL team.  For the 2012 NFL season, the Fan Conduct Class generated $13,500.00 in charitable donations that will be made to the following organizations:

1. Mother Against Drunk Driving
2. Bill Alumni Fund
3. HERO Campaign
4. Backstoppers Foundation
5. Spirit of 12 Partners
6. ACT
7. Houston Texans Foundation

We are very excited and proud to be making these donations.  The Fan Conduct class not only helps to improve fan safety by educating each fan who takes the class, but also helps to improve alcohol awareness and reduce drunk driving through funding other related non profits.  A big Thank You to all the teams involved in making this program such a huge succcess.

Ari Novick, Ph.D.

Starting New Years 2013, Assembly Bill 2464, written by Mike Gatto will require major league sports venues to have clearly marked numbers fans can use to text or call stadium security to report violence.  This new law is a step in the right direction to improve fan safety and the game day experience at professional sporting events in CA.  It is a law we support at Fan Conduct Class, as we believe legislation such as this can only be helpful for consumers of games and will ultimately make attending games more enjoyable. 

More information on this interesting story and new law can be found here

Dr. Ari Novick