The Glocalization of U.S. Sports in South Korea

Abstract

This study uses the lens of glocalization (Robertson, 1995) to explore how the expansion of U.S. sports in South Korea since the late 1990s influences the de/reconstitution of the national among local sports fans. I specifically look at how the impact of global sports such as Major League Baseball transforms structures of the national among Korean sports fans. I conclude that the term individuated nationalism best explains the ways that fans rationalize national fandom of Major League Baseball in terms of their personal tastes.