Sports and Nationalism in a Globalized World

Abstract

The topic of this article is sport nationalism. Using survey data from 25 countries, the study shows generally high levels of sport nationalism. The results indicate, however, that Western Europe has a lower level of sport nationalism while some less developed countries and Eastern Europe have higher levels. Furthermore, this research looks at how sport nationalism depends on individual and national characteristics. At the individual level, age, religion, income, sport participation, and sport attendance show a positive correlation with sport nationalism, whereas education has a negative correlation. The effect of age varies between countries. More democratic, prosperous, and globalized countries are the least sport nationalistic. Looking at how individual and national factors interact, the individual effect of education depends on the national level of cultural globalization (i.e., a greater negative effect in more globalized countries), and the individual effect of income depends on gross domestic product.