An analysis of the geographic origins and migration patterns of elite college football players

Author(s)

Thomas Wuerzer, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Jeffrey J. Fountain, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Peter Finley, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

ORCID

Thomas Wuerzer0000-0002-8290-3785

Jeffrey J. Fountain0000-0002-2557-6511

Peter Finley0000-0003-1947-513X

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Geographical Review

ISSN

0016-7428

Publication Date

8-11-2023

Abstract/Excerpt

John Rooney’s (1969) seminal geographical work on the origins of U.S. college football players showed how a comprehensive examination of player origins could be analyzed and presented. This study utilizes Rooney’s findings to compare changes in the origin and migration patterns 50 years after his work. The hometowns of 14,937 elite high school football players recruited to play for “Power 5” schools between 2010 and 2020 are analyzed. The findings reveal that substantially more elite players now originate in the southern states and migrate into areas that underproduced elite talent. The methods and results of this study contribute to the merging research fields of sports management and sports geography on geographic patterns and the migration of athletes and how they can change over periods of time.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2023.2236672

Volume

114

Issue

2

First Page

157

Last Page

179

NSUWorks Citation

Wuerzer, Thomas; Fountain, Jeffrey J.; and Finley, Peter, "An analysis of the geographic origins and migration patterns of elite college football players" (2023). HCBE Faculty Articles. 1187.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcbe_facarticles/1187