The City of Saints: Realizing Sports’ Positive Potential for Communities Following Disaster

There are numerous observable relationships between sport and community. By adhering to the external identity of the community, a sports franchise creates strong team identification with its community, increasing the loyalty and impact of its relationship. In the first several chapters, this thesis explores how and why these relationships are created between a team and its community. It examines the implications of the relationships between the team and the community, a player and the community, and fans of the team with one another. This thesis explores the effect of the relationships between sport and the community and how these relationships change after the community experiences a disaster.