Sports and Geography: Exploration for Spatial Approach

Abstract

Purpose: Sports is an activity created by human beings and is related with natural and human environments, and it is a physical activity which inherently interacts with geographical properties. With the above views, it is clear that sports reflect human culture and physical environment, which are closely related to places or spaces in terms of origin, propagation and diffusion, or geography in a broader sense. This study explored the relationships between sporting activities and geography with an environmental view. Research design, data, and methodology:The study employed qualitative methodology to review the association between sport and geographical perspective. The study reviewed the broad documents including journals, periodicals, reports and so forth. Results: First, since its inception in the 1960s, research on sports geography has been steadily studied in many international geography and non-geographic research journals. Second, it reflects the distinct characteristics of the relationship between sports and geography (relationship with physical geography and humanities). Third, as a spatial approach to sports, it is the place of sports, globalization of sports, and the tourist attraction of sports. Conclusion: the findings of this study provides insights for sport geography and could be applied to the current sports industry. Further implications were discussed.