Brief history of sex toys thrown at sporting events: WNBA is not alone

USA Today

2 days ago

Over the past two weeks, the sports world has gotten acquainted with a staple in other industries: sex toys.
Five separate incidents have occurred during WNBA games, where a green neon sex toy was thrown – with three landing on the court during live game action. Two people have been arrested, including an 18-year-old who threw the object during the Phoenix Mercury's game against the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday. The sex toy allegedly hit a man, who was watching the game with his 9-year-old niece.
The same night, during the Indiana Fever-Los Angeles Sparks game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a sex toy landed on the court in the lane near Fever forward Sophie Cunningham, who earlier in the week went on social media to plead with fans not to throw things on the floor and posted another reaction after the game. Another sex toy was thrown at a New York Liberty game at Barclays Center.
The WNBA isn't the first sports league that has had to deal with sex toys being thrown on the field of play.
Here are some other unfortunate instances where that has happened:
Bills fans throw more than snowballs
Fans of the Buffalo Bills are an acquired taste. Known for their tailgating antics, the passionate fan base will let you know what they think of the opponent, especially the New England Patriots.
It started during a Week 8 contest in 2016, when the Patriots were driving for a score during their 41-25 win, a flesh colored sex toy landed at the 1-yard line, near the pylon.
"I did see it. Yes I did, I did see it," Tom Brady said after the game. "I thought it was funny the ref didn't want to pick it up. He was kicking it. Nobody wanted to reach down and grab it. … That was very unusual. That was a first. Only in Buffalo. That was very unusual."
The fans repeated the behavior the next two years when the Patriots made their annual trip to Buffalo for the AFC East showdown and got a whole lot of visibility in 2018 during a nationally televised game.
Soccer follies
The Premier League got its on-pitch embarrassment in 2018 when a sex toy was thrown during a match between Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United at Amex Stadium.
Referee Kevin Friend tried to be discreet and removed the object, handing it over to another official. Unfortunately for Friend, a picture really does speak a thousand words.
Swedish hockey fans make it rain
In 2008, a Swedish ice hockey game was delayed after fans pelted the ice with sex toys.
Apparently, sex toys were not on the restricted list of items you can bring into an arena in Sweden, so fans of AIK Hockey came prepared to show their arm strength when visiting Leksand came to town. In fact, team officials knew about the impending stunt but decided it was best not to intervene, as it was more trouble than it was worth to stop it.
Before the game even started, arena staff had to clear the ice, and fans did it to make fun of Leksand defender Jan Huokko, who, a year earlier, had a sex tape he made with his girlfriend hit the internet after his cell phone was stolen.
Fans went all out with vulgar signs about Huokko, complete with a giant inflatable penis that made its way across the crowd.