Revive the Pride: Social Process, Political Economy, and a Fan-Based Grassroots Movement

This paper examines the development of a grassroots movement to revive the defunct Ottawa Rough Riders CFL franchise. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical implications of this movement for understanding social processes of collective action in sport-related contexts, the political economic forces that guide/structure these processes, and relationships between sport-related interest groups, the state and mass media. This historical inquiry and theoretical discussion is based on interviews that were conducted with key members of the revival movement (in 1999 and 2000) and on a content and textual analysis of mass media coverage of the group (from February 1998 until July 2000). The paper concludes with some comments about the potential relevance of this study for broader work on community, identity, and sport and with recommendations for future research on sport-related grassroots movements.