Abstract
At the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the “Sacred Ground” exhibit celebrates the game’s most noteworthy parks. “This exhibit,” remarked the Hall of Fame’s president, “captures that magical connection that forms between fans and their ballpark.” Similar examples of sacred themes intermingling with athletic places appear elsewhere in the world, from the soccer field at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, to the fairways of the Old Course at Saint Andrews in Scotland. This essay uses sacred space as an interpretive category to investigate the religious dimensions of sports. Channeling insights from cultural geographers, religion theorists, historians, and cultural theorists, it examines major sporting venues in different sections of the world and identifies the tactics used by fans, players, and curators to enshrine their favored people, teams, and events.
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Remillard, A. (2015). The Shrines of Sport: Sacred Space and the World’s Athletic Venues. In: Brunn, S. (eds) The Changing World Religion Map. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_151
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