Although there have been studies done, there is very little available information on the social composition of sporting crowds. It is also a very difficult topic to be able to come to accurate and generalized resolutions. Easily identifiable sample groups such as season ticket holders and members of a fan group are almost by definition unrepresentative of supporters as a whole. Also, not all fans want to fill in lengthy questionnaires and if they do it is not always done properly. .
There are many factors that come under observation when studying crowd composition. The crowd differs in many characteristics such as age, male/female ratio, socioeconomic level, race, ethnic background, personality, geography, and education. It is not only these traits that we must look at, but we must also consider that composition will vary according to varying environments. For example, the composition at different sports is likely to differ dramatically. Obviously the composition at an ice skating tournament is not likely to consist of as many young rowdy males that you might expect to see at the football or cricket. Differences in composition also occur according to importance, venue or timing of the event (i.e. Finals versus regular season matches), whether the sport is male or female, the "nature" of the sport itself (Vamplew, 1980), even variations within the working week have implications on the composition (Russel). .
Freischlag and Hardin (1975) have processed a study on the crowd composition of those attending high school football games in a diverse ethnic city in Texas called El Paso. It was found that Mexican Americans were representative of the lower economic strata, but that the choice to sit in peripheral or central seating locations was found to be unaffected by social class. .
The major part of the study involved comparisons between the academic achievement of student spectators and where they chose to sit in the stands.