Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

1998

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Geography

Abstract

This study seeks to explain how a geographer can draw cultural boundaries separating professional football and baseball team fandoms in a rural region. By studying the impact of cultural manifestations such as media coverage, sports merchandising markets, and community perceptions, the investigator attempts to define geographic borders in the popular culture based on regions of professional football and baseball fans. A brief discussion of the history of the two sports studied and the impact that technology, predominantly television, had on their respective growth into rural areas leads the researcher to limit the study to the state of South Dakota and six professional franchises located within a suitable geographic distance from the state: the Minnesota Vikings and Twins, the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, the Denver Broncos, and the Colorado Rockies. Four different Nielsen Designated Market Areas were identified to measure media impact and coverage. Wal Mart sales managers were interviewed in regard to the extent of their service areas, and to their inventory and sales of sports related merchandise during the past football season and the current baseball season to delineate sports merchandising markets. The study also identifies rural community perceptions of media exposure, merchandise markets, favorite teams, and perceived community "home teams" through the utilization of surveyed students and teachers in South Dakota. The synthesis of the accumulated data is displayed in map form and discussed. Conclusions and speculations drawn by the researcher as a result of the synthesized data lead the researcher to conclude that, based on media focalization and the resultant intertwining of community perceptions and merchandise markets, perceived cultural boundaries between sport fandoms can be identified in South Dakota. The teams located in the Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan areas had the largest impact on the studied region, while the data suggest that the Kansas City teams did not have a significant impact.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Baseball fans -- South Dakota

Football fans -- South Dakota

Professional sports

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

69

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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