This form of violence can deal with societal, economic, and cultural factors. For example it has been noted that problems in European soccer are often associated with poor living conditions. The problem clubs appear to come from the worst areas in Europe with extremely high unemployment, and the fans that are probably rated as the worst appear to come from industrial regions mostly in England, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. A violent soccer fan, according to the English Soccer federation, is probably a younger person with no real sense of identity or purpose and no realistic hope for full employment. Therefore their outlet for their frustrations is violence. Researches regarding European soccer violence have also identified a hard core of people who see fighting as an integral part of going to a game, who are led by "proven fighters"; frequently with local hooligan gang connections and a record of violence not related to sport (Taylor, 2000). These people are sometimes associated with extreme racist and right wing groups, but fortunately, this aspect does not appear to have surfaced outside the affected areas in Europe. European soccer, in some areas, is also influenced by religion, culture and race. The best example here is the Scottish local derby between Celtic Glasgow and Glasgow Rangers where religious differences often spill over from the fans to the field and vice versa. Another factor for violent fan behavior is poorly designed facilities with inadequate seating capacity lead to crowding, frustrations and violence. The biggest reason for fan violence is excessive consumption of alcohol, particularly by young male spectators, which is directly related the problems outlined above concerning European soccer. Alcohol consumption is widely recognized as the major cause of spectator misbehavior. .
The level in which violence in sport occurs can be very different when comparing sports.