Game day is a sacred time for sports fans.

It's a day that can have different impacts, depending on the result.

Muscles may be strained from excessive fist-pumping. Finger nails may be chomped to their limit. If your team wins, it can leave you riding a wave of exaltation. If they lose, it can leave you grappling in despair.

On any given weekend during the National Rugby League (NRL) season, Gwandalan's Tracey Miller has a strict ritual she abides by.

As an avid Newcastle Knights fan, it's a process that helps her prepare for game day.

On the morning of a match she bubbles with energy.

She rushes between the bathroom and the TV (where lower grade matches are being aired) as she gets ready, keeping an eye on how the junior teams are playing.

Before long, her niece arrives. They enthusiastically bundle into Tracey's car (aptly named the 'Newy-mobile' which is adorned in red and blue), before driving from the southern shores of NSW's Lake Macquarie to Hunter Stadium.

From then on, the outside world evaporates from Tracey's mind as she settles into her seat, ready to watch her beloved team play.

This ritual is not an uncommon narrative among sport fans. It's a sequence of events (which often plays to their superstitions) that has been deftly refined over the years.

So what drives us to be passionate about a football team? Why do we become fans - of not just sport, but films, books, bands, or food - in the first place?

What is fanaticism?

Ask someone which team they go for, and chances are you'll receive answers ranging from passionate, to steadfast, to nonchalant.

So how do we define what a fan is, compared to a 'standard' audience member?

Melanie James is a senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle's School of Design, Communication and IT and lectures about the phenomenon of 'fandom' from not just a sport perspective, but also with regards to pop culture.

She says that academically, fans are defined as people who act outside the normal expectations of an audience.

"You get degrees of fandom - from going as a member of the audience, but wearing your footy jersey, to getting names tattooed on your body, to stalking behaviour.

"Fans are really defined by what they do; sports fans do things differently to film fans.

"[For example], you can scream and shout and go all crazy [at matches or concerts], but you can't do that at work or down at the supermarket. It's about letting go."

What influences fanaticisms?

When considering the social and cultural factors behind why we become fans of certain things, Dr James says often a sense of romantic attachment to a person or cause can be reasons for fanaticisms developing.

"We've seen that with One Direction and other bands; it goes back to when Elvis first hit the stage and people were shocked by his fans.

"Often people fantasise about [them], but if they were in the same room as them, what would they really do?" says Dr James.

"Because of the way media has exploded, people are no longer just exposed to something in their local geographic area. The team or celebrity can foster a relationship with the media [and in turn, the fans], so it's just grown exponentially; I think that's why we've seen the fandom phenomena grow and grow into really quite a big business."

Dr James says having a sense of identification is another important factor.

"It operates at the level of fantasy - its escapism," she says.

Sports fans

Researchers from the University of Western Sydney studied the fans of an NRL club in 2014 to see why they are supporters of the club.

They found that some fans go to matches to escape the stresses of life; others said that if their team lost, they felt like they'd had a bad weekend.

The study also found that people reported feeling a sense of loyalty to their club, while others responded that they can cheer and scream and boo without feeling self conscious.

Newcastle Knights fan Tracey Miller says that she feels similar emotions to those who responded in the university's research.

"I love going to the games - it's an amazing atmosphere. It's a little community," she says.

"You just feel a part of it. You're regularly jumping up and down on the spot, cheering. You can just let your hair down and forget all your troubles.

"[If they win] it's just amazing - that feeling stays with you for days. Conversely, if they lose, then you feel really bad for a few days."

Newcastle is renowned for being a city that's unashamedly passionate about its teams - be it the Knights, or the A-League-playing Jets.

The teams are part of the city's identity, and are crucial to its social and cultural fabric.

It's this sense of pride, and supporting the team through good times and bad which leads many fans to show their support in a vibrantly visual way.

Tracey's love for the Knights is on display all around her house.

She wears a Knights jersey, while sipping tea from a Knights mug. Posters of the team adorn the walls, while a statue of a knight sits on the mantle. Next to the statue are framed photos of Tracey with some of her favourite Newcastle players.

"It's nice to have all the bits and pieces and all the red and blue around the house.

"It reminds you that you're a Knights fan during the week as well as on the weekend.

"The thing about the Hunter is, people work really hard and they play hard too. That's why we admire our team so much - because they have the same ethos. They get out there and really try hard," she says.

Exploiting fanaticisms

The things people are fans of are invariably 'products'.

Whether it's a film, TV show, book, or sports team, fans usually have to pay to 'consume' their passion - be it through purchasing tickets to the match, or queuing at the cinema for the next blockbuster.

When people can be so unwavering and loyal to their fanaticisms, what are the ethical boundaries around organisations not exploiting their product's fans?

Melanie James believes fans can be viewed in different ways.

"Fandom is cultivated by organisations. Football clubs want their fans; movie franchises want their fans," she says.

"A marketer would look at a fan quite differently [to someone else]. [Marketers could think], 'There is a potential person for me to make a lot of money out of, because they're going to buy the t-shirt, the video, the game, the costume and go to the movies.'

"They're a commodity."

While organisations appear to have the power, Dr James says fans can contribute to the future development of their passion.

She says with regards to films and novels, fan-fiction has been used by production companies to further develop their stories, as a way of appeasing fans.

Similarly, she says online fantasy football competitions give sport fans a chance to construct a fantasy world surrounding their passion.

"What we've also really seen emerge in the last couple of decades is the backlash of fans. When they are not pleased, fans quickly make their displeasure known.

"When they see the object of their fandom being tampered with, fans want to have a say about it.

"Fans are quite a powerful group. It's a fine balance - yes, the power seems to lie with the franchise, but in actual fact, the fandom has quite a lot of power collectively."

Discussion aside, chances are that a legion of sporting fans will still pack the grandstands of grounds around the country this year, riding the rollercoaster of ups and downs as their team marches towards glory.