r/soccer would most probably become half-dead over-night if the team flairs were to disappear. Almost each and every time when I'm reading a comment on there I first look at the flair of the redditor who had made the comment, so that I know who am I answering to. Sports-related discussions are a lot more heated and personal compared to what usually happens on sites like HN or how r/programming was at the beginning. I've actually seen grown people cry with real tears because of a football match, I'm yet to see a programmer cry because some other programmer has used spaces instead of tabs or vice-versa.