Racing for fans: Communication technology, the total experience, and the rise of Nascar

The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR, has seen a tremendous popularity surge in the past decade. The sport is attracting record crowds at its events nationwide and its televised broadcasts are gaining audiences rapidly. While there are many reasons why NASCAR has gained an audience recently, this exploratory study examines the role of communication technology in the proliferation of the sport; Each technology is discussed as it relates to a NASCAR fan's enjoyment of the "total experience," a term that defines the ultimate mediated experience available to a fan using communication technology without his or her presence at the race. This study investigates several communication technologies and their impacts on NASCAR's popularity. Cable television, radio frequency scanners, point-of-view cameras, the Internet, and statistical graphic displays are all components of today's NASCAR broadcast. The uses and gratifications theory is used to explain the sought gratification of the total experience by NASCAR race fans.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2000

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Elizabeth M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lawrence J. Mullen

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1133

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2132