Neil Irwin and Kevin Quealy
College sports, and particularly football, occupy a role at the center of daily life in the South — like in South Carolina, where one of us grew up — that is hard to imagine for many people who grew up in New York or Boston.
Passion for sports in the South is something that the South is notoriously known for across the United States. From high school sports (we all know we spent time at football games, basketball, baseball and maybe even soccer games). This passion carries into college and professional sports.
NFL Jersey Sales
As you can see from the map provided by NFL shop above, the top jersey sellers in every state. Most states are fitting with Julio Jones in Georgia (Atlanta Falcons), Marcus Mariota in Tennessee (Tennessee Titans), and Dak Prescott in Texas (Dallas Cowboys). But, Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans who has not been in the NFL for a whole two years is the top seller in South Carolina. The team most local to South Carolina is the Carolina Panthers, their slogan is even “two States, one Team” so it is expected a Panthers star would have the top selling jersey. Deshaun Watson plays for the Houston Texans (very far from South Carolina) but he played for the Clemson Tigers in college and won a national championship. You can see the passion for sports in one of the most southern states just through Deshaun Watson’s jersey sakes for a NFL team very far from South Carolina.
Basketball Viewership
College and professional basketball are both watched in the South. Not followed as passionately as football, but it carries a respectable following. North Carolina (unbiased opinion) is one of the most prestigious basketball states in the country, if not the most prestigious. All time great basketball players like Michael Jordan and Chris Paul are from the state of North Carolina and countless new stars are also from North Carolina. These players include multi time all star John Wall, two time MVP Stephen Curry, and Hassan Whiteside.
College Basketball
In fact, one of the North Carolina vs. Duke games (arguably the biggest rivalry in all of sports) was the most watched college basketball game of 2018. In the stats provided by ESPN media zone, areas in the South produced the highest ratings of college basketball viewership. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2018/03/north-carolina-duke-watched-college-basketball-game-season-across-network/
NBA Teams
NBA teams in the South are also gaining popularity and stretch across many different southern states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma.
As you can see from this map, NBA teams are present in the South and provide southerners more opportunity and reason to watch professional basketball games. With prestigious and heavily followed college basketball teams in the south as well, fans of those teams are likely to follow alumni in the NBA (especially if they play for a southern NBA team) similarly to the Deshaun Watson effect mentioned earlier.
College Football
College football is huge in the South. The tailgating, the rivalries, the attendance, and the South’s passion for college football as a whole is unparalleled. As you can see on the map above, data was taken from Facebook on how much a percentage of states “like” a college football team on Facebook. By liking a college football team on Facebook, one is provided with updates and postings about the team they are liking. Facebook is a highly used website and this data shows people care about seeing posting about college football on their personal Facebook’s.
University of Tennessee 
University of Alabama 
Clemson University
The crowds seen at college football games are INSANE (!!!!!) as you can see in the above images. The passion of college football is not shown just at the games, but everywhere throughout the South. Everyone reading this has more than likely heard “ROLL TIDE” (Alabama) or “WAR EAGLE” (Auburn) at some point in the last 10 years. Where I attend college (UNC Charlotte) our football team has not even existed longer than ten years but the student tailgates are always full and big games in town have raised ticket prices due to high demand. When Appalachian State was in town this past season it was a big deal not only for students at UNCC but locals and students/alumni of Appalachian State
Opinions of people who live in the South
For this project I interviewed 13 people currently living in the South (most have lived in the South their entire life) and asked their opinions on sports and how it is a part of the South.
By asking the most simple question “have you ever been to a football game?” 12 of 13 people answered “yes”. Another question I asked was “does your family bond by watching sports?” with 11 of 13 people saying yes. I also asked directly which sport in their opinion do Southerners care the most about. The answer was overwhelmingly football with 11 of 13 people saying this. The other two answers were split between racing and basketball.
Going deeper than asking about which sport is most popular and attendance of sporting events I asked is sports are a part of southern culture. A friend of mine named Ryan answered this question with “It’s a part of growing up, sports teaches us lessons and the South is all about a good lesson growing up. You learn discipline, teamwork, and social skills”. He has lived in the South his entire life and played sports growing up and still plays sports for fun. Another answer that stuck out was one I received from my friend Kymberli who has not lived in the south her entire life. She claims that tailgates in sports is what makes sports a part of southern culture (“Tailgates, thats all I’m saying” were her exact words).
I also asked which teams people choose to be a fan of and why. Most answers were due to teams being close to where they are from or their hometown. The only answer of someone’s favorite team being somewhere not local to them was my friend David (from North Carolina and has lived here his whole life) who answered the New England Patriots due to them “being run like a business”.
I personally have lived in the South my entire life and as you can see in the pictures above, sports has had an impact on my life and the culture I have grown up in. From being social due to sports and playing sports from childhood to now.
Sports in Country Music
Country music is music that was born in the South. Nashville, Tennessee (a southern state) is known as the home of country music. It is listened to by southerners more than any other genre of music. Country music is present in sports, as sports are present in country music.
Carrie Underwood, one of the most popular country artists of all time sings the introduction for Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night Football is the prime time game of every NFL Sunday and is typically the game that has the most anticipation and the largest audience.http://www.nashcountrydaily.com/2018/08/04/carrie-underwood-returns-to-sunday-night-football-with-new-theme-song-game-on/
Before Carrie Underwood https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=uWi1Q9RfSxw, another famous country artist sang the Sunday Night Football theme song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOf_v5o_CeE Not too leave anyone out, but Hank Williams Jr. also has sang the Monday Night Football Theme Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8LLKO0-PAE&t=45s.
With country music being the introduction to prime time football games that is not the only place you will find football in country music. Stars like Kenny Chesney, Brantley Gilbert, and James Otto have released songs with a central theme of football.
http://theboot.com/country-songs-football
Conclusion
Throughout this project I have proven the impact of Sports in the South and that is something the South cares a lot about. I grew up playing every sport except for football (my mom did not want me to get a concussion) and I watch/follow sports almost like a religion. As I am reviewing this project before turning it in I just witnessed the Panthers lose their fifth game in a row (it has been a really hard season). My friends and I talk about sports and attending sporting events for fun, not every part of the country has this admiration for sports. Without sports, the south would not have the same culture it is known for today.
Sports in the South 