History Leitmotif / Sports

** Yankee Stadium will erupt when the opening riff of Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Enter Sandman" plays. They know that relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is coming into the game, and much like Hoffman's appearance, this typically meant the game was over. Billy Wagner had the same song played from his days with the Houston Astros.
** Edwin Diaz has "Narco" by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet. He initially adopted it in 2018 when he was with the Seattle Mariners. He was then traded to the New York Mets and changed walkout songs, but that coincided with a catastrophic stretch of blown save after blown save in 2019, to the point of WebVideo/UrinatingTree nicknaming him "Edlose Diaz", so he switched back in 2020. His performance rebounded after that and he became one of the best closers in the game, while the song gained popularity among Mets fans.

** The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates have the disco hit "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge, using it to come back from a 3–⁠1 World Series deficit to win against the Baltimore Orioles.

** Music/Blink182's "All The Small Things" started becoming associated with the Colorado Avalanche because the arena's DJ heard it on the way to a game and decided to play it at said game. Fans quickly embraced it and started singing along, even singing the rest of the song after play began, and would ride that momentum all the way to the 2022 Stanley Cup. [[https://twitter.com/blink182/status/1541487474890854400 blink-182 would congratulate the Avs in response]], and Mark Hoppus would attend the banner ceremony to lead the fans in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18kBbSf8U2E one more singalong]].

* Most point to the 1990s Chicago Bulls for starting the "NBA teams with theme songs" as they would play [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HYj-uV9NGc SIRUS by the Allan Parsons Project]] before each home game, a tradition that continues today.

** Music/Blink182's "All The Small Things" started becoming associated with the Colorado Avalanche because the arena's DJ heard it on the way to a game and decided to play it at said game. Fans quickly embraced it and started singing along, even singing the rest of the song after play began, and would ride that momentum all the way to the 2022 Stanley Cup. [[https://twitter.com/blink182/status/1541487474890854400 blink-182 would congratulate the Avs in response]], and Mark Hoppus would attend the banner ceremony to lead the fans in one more singalong.

** Music/Blink182's "All The Small Things" started becoming associated with the Colorado Avalanche because the arena's DJ heard it on the way to a game and decided to play it at said game. Fans quickly embraced it and started singing along, even singing the rest of the song after play began, and would ride that momentum all the way to the 2022 Stanley Cup. [[https://twitter.com/blink182/status/1541487474890854400 blink-182 would congratulate the Avs in response]].
-->'''Alan Roach (Avs announcer):''' All right, we had a warm up just a moment ago, and now it's time for the real thing. You've been singing it all year long, and now it's time to make this celebration [[https://youtu.be/cXb98lGSjH0?t=14353 THE BIGGEST KARAOKE BAR IN THE WORLD!]] DJ TRIPLE T, LET'S GO!

** The 2019 Washington Nationals started out their year with poor expectations, having lost their star outfielder Bryce Harper to the Philadelphia Phillies on a massive $400 million contract as a free agent the previous offseason; by late May their record after 50 games was a terrible 19-31. Outfielder Gerardo Parra was himself in a batting slump when he decided to change his walk-up music in June to...the children's song "Baby Shark", of all things (his two-year-old daughter loved the song). Parra hit a homer the first day he used it and decided to stick with it, and fans began to do the arm-clapping sharkbite motions at every home game while players began to incorporate it into a team celebration after a home run. It contributed to a major turnaround for the team both in terms of morale and performance, as the Nationals finished the regular season with a 93-69 record and clinched a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, where they went on a run that culminated in the franchise's first ever World Series victory (including all their time as the Montreal Expos since 1969 until 2004) and Washington's first since 1924.

** The 2018–⁠19 St. Louis Blues have "Gloria" [[CoveredUp as covered by Laura Branigan]]. The Blues were having a terrible season and had nothing going for them, having already fired their coach in November and were in last place on January 6 when they were in Philadelphia for a game. A few Blues players were at a local bar watching football when they kept hearing some local patrons yelling at the DJ to "Play 'Gloria'!" over and over and seeing a bunch of guys dancing around having fun, so they figured "eh, why not try that?" after every win from that point on. The Blues won their game against the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0, starting a most remarkable turnaround where they began rocketing up the standings (highlighted by a franchise-record 11 wins in a row along the way), into the playoffs, and all the way to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship in its 52-year history.

** The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates have the disco hit "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge, using it to come back from a 3-1 World Series deficit to win against the Baltimore Orioles.
** The 2018-19 St. Louis Blues have "Gloria" [[CoveredUp as covered by Laura Branigan]]. The Blues were having a terrible season and had nothing going for them, having already fired their coach in November and were in last place on January 6 when they were in Philadelphia for a game. A few Blues players were at a local bar watching football when they kept hearing some local patrons yelling at the DJ to "Play 'Gloria'!" over and over and seeing a bunch of guys dancing around having fun, so they figured "eh, why not try that?" after every win from that point on. The Blues won their game against the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0, starting a most remarkable turnaround where they began rocketing up the standings (highlighted by a franchise-record 11 wins in a row along the way), into the playoffs, and all the way to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship in its 52-year history.

** In contrast to the high-energy "walk-up music" used by most baseball players, starting in May 2014, then-Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick opted for [[{{Sexophone}} "Careless Whisper"]] by Music/GeorgeMichael. [[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2063308-josh-reddick-using-whams-careless-whisper-as-at-bat-music-turns-into-huge-hit The fans seem to approve.]]

** The Chicago Blackhawks have all but made their goalsong, The Fratellis' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBaxde247Mw "Chelsea Dagger"]], this.

** San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman and Music/{{ACDC}}'s "Hells Bells", the first big league player to have a leitmotif.

** The 2019 Washington Nationals started out their year with poor expectations, having lost their star outfielder Bryce Harper to the Philadelphia Phillies on a massive $400 million contract as a free agent the previous offseason; by late May their record after 50 games was a terrible 19-31. Outfielder Gerardo Parra was himself in a batting slump when he decided to change his walk-up music in June to...the children's song "Baby Shark", of all things (his two-year-old daughter loved the song). Parra hit a homer the first day he used and decided to stick with it, and fans began to do the arm-clapping sharkbite motions at every home game while players began to incorporate it into a team celebration after a home run. It contributed to a major turnaround for the team both in terms of morale and performance, as the Nationals finished the regular season with a 93-69 record and clinched a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, where they went on a run that culminated in the franchise's first ever World Series victory (including all their time as the Montreal Expos since 1969 until 2004) and Washington's first since 1924.

** The 2019 Washington Nationals started out their year with poor expectations, having lost their star outfielder Bryce Harper to the Philadelphia Phillies on a massive $400 million contract as a free agent the previous offseason; by late May their record after 50 games was a terrible 19-31. Outfielder Gerardo Parra was himself in a batting slump when he decided to change his walk-up music in June to...the children's song "Baby Shark", of all things (his two-year-old daughter loved the song). Parra hit a homer the first day he used and decided to stick with it, and fans began to do the arm-clapping sharkbite motions at every home game while players began to incorporate it into a team celebration after a home run. It contributed to a major turnaround for the team both in terms of morale and performance, as the Nationals finished the regular season with a 93-69 record and clinched a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, where they went on a run that culminated in the franchise's first ever World Series victory (including all their time as the Montreal Expos since 1969 until 2004) and Washington's first since 1933.

** In contrast to the high-energy "walk-up music" used by most baseball players, starting in May 2014, then-Oakland Athletics (now Houston Astros) outfielder Josh Reddick opted for [[{{Sexophone}} "Careless Whisper"]] by Music/GeorgeMichael. [[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2063308-josh-reddick-using-whams-careless-whisper-as-at-bat-music-turns-into-huge-hit The fans seem to approve.]]

** In contrast to the high-energy "walk-up music" used by most baseball players, starting in May 2014, Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick opted for [[{{Sexophone}} "Careless Whisper"]] by Music/GeorgeMichael. [[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2063308-josh-reddick-using-whams-careless-whisper-as-at-bat-music-turns-into-huge-hit The fans seem to approve.]]

* San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman and Music/{{ACDC}}'s "Hells Bells".
** Similarly, Yankee Stadium will erupt when the opening riff of Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Enter Sandman" plays. They know that relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is coming into the game, and much like Hoffman's appearance, this typically meant the game was over. Billy Wagner had the same song played from his days with the Houston Astros.

* You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel has primarily been affiliated with Liverpool FC.
* The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL have all but made their goalsong, The Fratellis' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBaxde247Mw Chelsea Dagger]] this.

* Fight sports like Boxing and MixedMartialArts usually followed the ProfessionalWrestling example where a fighter's entrance is accompanied with a song. While most fighters usually used different songs for their entrance, some fighters would usually end up being associated with one particular song.

* In the US at least, many high schools and colleges have fight songs and official hymns. Most Americans are probably at least passingly familiar with the Notre Dame fight song as an audio shorthand for college football, especially if they have ever seen ''Film/{{Rudy}}''. They may also be familiar with the ''tune'' of the Notre Dame Fight Song if they recall junior-high algebra, since some math teachers set the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_formula quadratic formula]] to the tune of fight song to make it easier to remember.
* San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman and AC/DC's "Hells Bells."
** Similarly, Yankees Stadium will erupt when the opening riff of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" plays. They know that relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is coming into the game, and much like Hoffman's appearance, this typically meant the game was over. Billy Wagner had the same song played from his days with the Houston Astros.
** In contrast to the high-energy "walk-up music" used by most baseball players, starting in May 2014, Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick opted for [[{{Sexophone}} "Careless Whisper"]] by GeorgeMichael. [[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2063308-josh-reddick-using-whams-careless-whisper-as-at-bat-music-turns-into-huge-hit The fans seem to approve.]]

* J.J. Watt with Turn Down for What

** Similarly, Yankees Stadium will erupt when the opening riff of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" plays. They know that relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is coming into the game, and much like Hoffman's appearance, this typically meant the game was over.

* John Williams wrote the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWdOFgDQIn0 Olympic Fanfare and Theme]], which was used in several Olympiads in the 1990s and 2000s.

* In the US at least, many high schools and colleges have fight songs and official hymns. Most Americans are probably at least passingly familiar with the Notre Dame fight song as an audio shorthand for college football, especially if they have ever seen ''{{Rudy}}''.

* The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL have all but made their goalsong, The Fratellis' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBaxde247Mw Chelsea Dagger]] this.