Cultural consumption writ large has had a prominent place in the sociological discipline since Pierre Bourdieu. While Bourdieu often considered sport in analyses of culture, there have since been relatively few studies that are focused on considering sport within the broader landscape of cultural consumption. This paper seeks to assess the place of sports participation within the cultural lifestyles of Canadians. To this end, this paper employs multiple latent class analyses of various cultural and sporting variables from a large-scale Canadian government survey. It also employs regression analyses of those latent class groups. The results show three primary groups of consumers, pointing strongly to confirming the omnivore thesis in Canada. The results of the core of the analysis show, however, strong delineations in which sports these different groups consume. Ultimately then, the cultural domain of sports may be an area where omnivores practise more distinctive consumption, eschewing the sports of other consumer groups.
The theory of the cultural omnivore has been applied to many cultural domains. However, given the pervasiveness of professional sport in contemporary societies, less is known about omnivorous behaviour when it comes to consuming this cultural form. This study sets out to find if indeed there is an omnivorous consumption profile for professional sport. Using a latent class and regression analysis of survey data on five major professional sports leagues from Canada, this paper seeks to determine if this professional sport omnivore exists, how prevalent it might be, and if it maps onto wider socio-economic differentiations. The latent class analysis does show that there is an omnivorous consumption profile. However, it is the second smallest professional sport profile and does not map onto wider socio-economic differentiations, even as other patterns of professional sports’ consumption do display such distinctions.
Despite the prevalence of professional sport in contemporary societies, there is little known by academics about professional sports consumers. We know much more about other cultural domains, such as music and the arts. This study examines consumption and sport in Canada to further understand how patterns of sports consumption fit into broader leisure lifestyles. Through investigation of how five professional sports leagues in Canada are consumed, this paper draws conclusions about the lifestyle of these consumers to assess which prevailing theories of cultural consumption are most useful for this segment. By utilising latent class analysis and regression modelling, this paper finds that cultural omnivores are the most likely consumers of these leagues. This group also maps onto theorisations of omnivores as high-status persons. Additionally, this paper suggests that theories of cosmopolitanism in omnivorous consumption may have particular salience for the Canadian case.
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