Robert De Niro's 1996 collaboration with director Tony Scott, the sports thriller *The Fan*, ended up alienating the San Francisco Giants after the baseball club had willingly supported its production. The Giants had granted Scott and De Niro access to film behind the scenes at Candlestick Park, expecting the kind of flattering publicity NASCAR received from Scott's *Days of Thunder*, but the finished film instead delivered a dark, unsettling portrait of an obsessive fan turning violent towards his favourite player, portrayed by Wesley Snipes.

When Giants marketing manager Pat Gallagher finally watched the completed film, he described being "horrified" by its content, reflecting the gulf between the team's expectations and Scott's genuinely disturbing vision. The film marked a rare mixed reception in Scott's otherwise strong directorial run since his 1983 debut *The Hunger*, sitting uneasily between horror and satire and lacking the clearer social commentary of De Niro's earlier anti-hero roles in films like *Taxi Driver*. Though critical opinion of *The Fan* has softened since Scott's death in 2012, the episode illustrates why sports franchises remain cautious about lending their name and access to film productions, generally favouring projects like *Draft Day* or *American Underdog* that portray them positively.