ABSTRACT
For the US sports fan, gaining access to a ‘big game’ at the stadium—a place that Kidd (1990) views as a citizen-subsidized ‘men’s cultural center’— means taking stock of one’s resources. Going to the game, even for rabid fans, is discretionary. In another era, with empty pockets, one could peer through a hole in the stadium fence to see a game. With limited resources, one might head to the bleachers or upper level ‘nose bleed’ seats. Better-resourced fans might pay for seats on the fifty-yard line or in field boxes near the dugout. Wealthier fans could gravitate to ‘gated communities’ in luxury boxes for premium service and to avoid rubbing elbows with the chattering crowd. The stratified stadium has always provided a case study in cultural geography driven by market segmentation.
