La afición se fue animando a medida que pasaban los minutos.

Here, la afición means the fans, the supporters, or the crowd of supporters, especially in a sports context.

In Spain, afición is very commonly used to talk about a team's fanbase or the crowd in the stadium. So in this sentence, it does not mean a hobby or pastime, even though afición can also mean interest or hobby in other contexts.

For example:

• La afición del Betis = Betis supporters / the Betis fanbase
• La afición respondió muy bien = The fans responded very well

Because afición is a collective singular noun. Spanish often uses a singular noun to refer to a group seen as one unit.

So although it refers to many fans, grammatically it is singular:

• La afición se fue animando
• not Las aficiones in this meaning

This is similar to English expressions like the crowd, the audience, or the public, which are singular in form but refer to many individuals.

Se fue animando means something like:

• gradually became more animated
• started to liven up more and more
• got increasingly excited

The key idea is progressive change over time. The fans did not suddenly become lively in one instant; instead, their energy built up little by little.

So this is more nuanced than just saying got excited. It suggests a developing process.

This is the structure ir + gerundio, which often expresses a gradual, progressive development.

So:

• fue animando = was gradually livening up / became more animated little by little

With the pronoun, it becomes:

• se fue animando

This construction is very common when something changes step by step:

• La situación fue mejorando = The situation gradually improved
• Me fui acostumbrando = I gradually got used to it
• El público se fue callando = The audience gradually went quiet

In this sentence, fue is from ir, not from ser.

The verb here is animarse, not just animar.

• animar = to encourage, to cheer, to liven something up
• animarse = to become encouraged, to cheer up, to get lively, to get into the mood

So:

• El público animó al equipo = The crowd encouraged the team
• El público se animó = The crowd got more animated / got into it

In your sentence, se shows that the subject itself is undergoing the change.

You could say La afición se animó, but it would mean something slightly different.

• La afición se animó = The fans livened up / got excited
• La afición se fue animando = The fans gradually livened up over time

So se fue animando emphasizes the process and the build-up, while se animó sounds more like the change is seen as a whole event.

A medida que means as, as... went on, or in step with the way that something happens.

It introduces a parallel development: one thing changes while another advances.

So here:

• La afición se fue animando a medida que pasaban los minutos
• The crowd got more animated as the minutes passed

Other examples:

• A medida que estudiaba, entendía más = As I studied, I understood more
• A medida que crecen, cambian = As they grow, they change

It is a very natural connector in Spanish for gradual change.

Because pasaban is in the imperfect, which fits the idea of an ongoing background process.

The sentence describes two developments unfolding over time:

• the fans were gradually getting more animated
• the minutes were passing

The imperfect pasaban presents the passing of time as an ongoing process, not as a completed event.

Compare:

• a medida que pasaban los minutos = as the minutes were passing / as time went on
• pasaron los minutos = the minutes passed

The preterite pasaron would sound more like a completed action viewed from the outside, which does not fit as naturally with a medida que in this sentence.

Spanish often uses the definite article in places where English would not.

So:

• pasaban los minutos literally = the minutes were passing

But in natural English, we usually just say:

• as the minutes passed

This is very normal in Spanish, especially with time expressions, body parts, general categories, and other nouns that are understood from context.

Not exactly. Here, animando is better understood as:

• getting livelier
• getting more excited
• becoming more animated

In other contexts, animar can mean to cheer on:

• La afición animaba al equipo = The fans were cheering on the team

But in your sentence, the verb is animarse, so the focus is on the fans' own mood and energy increasing.

Yes, very much so. In Spain, afición is a very common and natural word in football and sports language.

A Spanish speaker from Spain would easily understand la afición as:

• the home support
• the fans in the stadium
• the supporters as a collective group

In some other varieties of Spanish, people may also say things like:

• la hinchada
• los aficionados
• el público

But la afición is especially common and natural in Spain.

Yes. Depending on tone and context, you could translate it in several natural ways, for example:

• The crowd grew more animated as the minutes passed.
• The fans gradually got more excited as the minutes went by.
• The supporters livened up more and more as time went on.
• The crowd got increasingly lively as the minutes passed.

They all capture the same basic meaning, but some emphasize energy, some excitement, and some the gradual build-up more strongly.