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Running head: FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA A Study of NHL Fan Identification in Red Deer, Alberta Blair Cipywnyk, BA Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Arts in Applied Health Sciences (Sport Management) Under the supervision of Dr. Craig Hyatt Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Brock University St. Catharines, ON Blair T. Cipywnyk © September 2019 FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA ii Dedication To my family and friends, for always believing in me, and being my constant sources of love and support during this journey. “Life is unpredictable, Not everything is in our control. But as long as we’re with the right people. We can handle anything.” FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA iii Abstract While there are many reasons sport fans choose to follow one team over another, geography is typically a major one, as people often follow their hometown team, or the team that is the closest (Rooney, 1974; 1975; Wann, 2006). However, limited academic attention has been given to situations where geographic proximity is likely to have little to no influence in the development of sport fan identification, and how individuals choose teams instead. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand how hockey fans chose their favourite team when two teams in two different cities are an equal distance away, and how they would maintain that fandom in the presence of the other team’s fans. Participants were recruited in Red Deer, Alberta, a city that is 84 miles or 135.2 km from both Edmonton and Calgary. Using Rooney’s (1974; 1975) spheres of influence for sport teams, Red Deer falls equally within the sphere for both teams. As a result of the equi-distance, however, it was assumed geographic proximity likely has little influence on fandom formation in Red Deer. Further, the constant threat of the rival group being in close proximity raises questions for how fans in Red Deer maintain their team fandom. A total of 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with highly identified fans of the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames that were also lifelong residents of Red Deer. Geographic proximity proved to play no role, while family influence, team success, rebellious nature, and place attachment proved major factors in how fans in Red Deer choose between these two teams. Further, because the Oilers and Flames are traditional rivals dating back to the 1980s (Spector, 2015), and with Red Deer being caught in the middle, an assumption was made that rivalry would play a large role in fandom maintenance. However, that was not the case. Not only did rivalry not factor in FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA iv fandom maintenance, but the rivalry was also seen as dead or dying by participants. Directions for future research and recommendations are presented and discussed. FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA v Acknowledgments Waiting to write the acknowledgments until the end of the masters process is something that is clearly done on purpose, because it turns out to ultimately be the hardest part of the journey. There are so many people involved in the process, that helped you achieve your goals, that acknowledging everyone with the words to correctly describe what they did is close to impossible. That being said, none of this would have been possible without my parents, Amy and Terry. The two people that always believed in me through thick and thin, and who pushed me to chase my dreams by moving to Ontario to write this thesis. It was not always easy, but they supported me through the process and made sure I had everything that I needed in order to succeed – including sacrificing a few of their weekends to help me get my research posters up in Red Deer. It is hard to put into words what their support has meant, but all I can say is thank you and that I love you. This would not have been possible without you guys. Thank you also to my brother Garrett for all his support through this process, for driving across the country with me for my first year, and for always encouraging me to have the extra beer. Thank you to my supervisor Dr. Craig Hyatt. First, for taking a chance on a history major from Alberta. Second, for believing in me and pushing me to make sure I grew not only as an academic and researcher, but also as a person. Your time, dedication, encouragement, guidance, and constant support was more than I could have ever asked for, and allowed me to reach my goals at Brock, and set myself up to reach both my career and life goals. For that, I will be forever thankful and I am honoured to call you a friend. FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA vi Thank you also to my committee members, Dr. Chris Chard and Dr. Shannon Kerwin, for being tremendous resources and for always helping me out when I asked for it throughout the process. I always appreciated how willing you were to make time for me, and how open you were to guide me towards idea’s that helped me. Additionally, thank you to Dr. Terry Eddy for serving as the external member on my committee. Your feedback and recommendations were helpful and appreciated. Also a shout out to Dr. Nick Burton for serving as the chair at my defence. It was great having you as part of the final defence and your support was greatly appreciated. Thank you to all my friends back in Edmonton that supported me from three provinces over. It’s hard to put into words what your support meant, or to thank you properly, but I’ll give it a try. Tanner, thanks for the cake when I first got accepted and for the weekly phone calls. Thanks for making sure the beer was always cold when I came to visit and for letting me chase your kids around the yard to burn off the stress. Chantelle, thanks for believing in me, for always being a source of positivity and strength in my life, for the pep talk lunches and coffee dates and for making sure I felt the love and support whether I was in Alberta or Ontario. Joel, I told you this before and I will say it again, none of this would have happened without you. You could have pushed me away, or given me a half-hearted answer that day in your office when I asked for guidance, but you didn’t. From that moment on, your constant support, guidance, mentorship and friendship is something that is very appreciated. You saw something in me and for that I am extremely thankful. Finally, thank you to all my other friends that helped and supported me through the process. There are too many of you to name individually, but your love and support was always felt. FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA vii Thank you to all my fellow grad students at Brock that helped me get through this. Your help, guidance, and support made this process much easier to manage. From being a sound board to bounce research ideas off of, to listening to problems and offering advice, to always being willing to go to the bar when I needed it – you all helped make my time at Brock memorable and meaningful, and I will cherish the friendships we formed even as we all go our separate ways. Finally, I would like to thank all of my participants for donating their time to speak with me and helping me with my research. Without your involvement, my research would not have been possible. FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA viii Table of Contents Dedication ii Abstract iii Acknowledgments v 1. Chapter One – Introduction 1 a. Introduction 1 b. Edmonton Oilers 4 c. Calgary Flames 7 d. Battle of Alberta 10 e. Red Deer, Alberta 13 f. Overview of Current Research Project 14 g. Value 15 h. Breakdown 15 2. Chapter Two – Review of Literature 17 a. Motives to be a Fan of Sport 17 b. Motives to be a Fan of a Team 19 i. Psychology 20 1. Social Identity Theory 23 2. Team Success 24 3. Rivalries 24 ii. Sociology 27 c. Levels of Fan Identification 29 d. Choosing A Team 32 i. Family/Friends 32 ii. Players 35 iii. Team Success/History 36 iv. Geography 37 e. Conclusion 43 f. This Study 44 3. Chapter Three – Methodology 46 a. Paradigm 46 b. Data Collection 47 i. Interviews 47 ii. Sample 49 iii. Interview Tools & Materials 54 iv. Interview Discussion 57 v. Saturation 64 FAN IDENTIFICATION IN RED DEER, ALBERTA ix c. Data Analysis 65 i. Data Representation 67 ii. Themes 68 d. Trustworthiness 68 4. Chapter Four – Findings and Discussion 72 a. Becoming a Fan 74 i. Family Influence 75 ii. Success 77 iii. Place Attachment 80 iv. Rebellious 84 b. Rivalry in Red Deer 86 i. Showing 87 ii. Interaction 88 iii. No Threat/Ignore 90 iv. Current State 92 c. Opinion of the “Other” Team 96 i. Players 96 ii. 2004/2006 Stanley Cup Final 98 iii. Fans 103 d. Committed to Current Team 106 i. Family Time 106 ii. Socializing 108 iii. Loyalty 110 iv. Hope 112 e. Discussion 114 i. Research Question Number One 114 ii. Research Question Number Two 116 5. Chapter Five – Implications, Limitations, and Conclusion 121 a. Summary of Research 121 b. Implications and Recommendations 126 c. Future Research 128 d. Limitations 130 e. Conclusion 134 6. References 136 7. Appendices 152 a.