Cameron Hughes is a professional superfan; paid by team owners to get crowds on their feet and to create team spirit wherever he goes.
“I’m that guy,” says Hughes “the funny, happy, dancing, possibly very drunk guy you’ve seen at the ballpark at least once.”
But he’s not drunk (he says he never drinks before games, and prefers to down three Red Bulls instead), and he’s not just doing it for fun either. Teams pay him an average of $2,000 per game to work his magic in the stands, and when you consider the fact that he works an average of 80 to 90 games per year, you’ll see that he’s making a comfortable six-figure salary by whipping fans, and maybe even you, into a frenzy.
So how did Cameron get his start?
After college, he moved to Los Angeles and tried to make it as an actor. At a Dodgers game, he put his acting skills to work in the stands, and was approached by the team about hiring him to do his “superfan” gig full time. Soon word of Cameron’s skills spread from team to team, and he started receiving unsolicited offers from all across the country. Before he knew it, the acting career was out the window, and he was doing a new kind of acting at any game that needed a little more spirit.
So keep Cameron in mind the next time you’re at a game and wondering what the guy dancing through the stands is doing, because he just might be paying the bills from your fun.
