Sports Heritage Essay: An Analysis of Sport Heritage Sites - LCBS5047

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of sports heritage sites, focusing on the Twickenham World Rugby Museum and the Hockey Museum Hall of Fame in Canada. The author examines the factors driving the popularity of such sites, including economic forces, technological advancements, and changes in visitor attitudes. The essay delves into the characteristics of tourists and the strategies employed by the museums to attract visitors, such as pricing, timing, and the use of technology like social media and online booking systems. A comparative study is conducted to highlight the different approaches used by each museum, with the Twickenham museum emphasizing technological integration and the Hockey Hall of Fame focusing on online sales and donations. Furthermore, the essay explores the impact of cultural values and the importance of engaging visitors through events and activities, like workshops. The essay concludes by highlighting the importance of adapting to changing visitor preferences to ensure the continued popularity and success of sports heritage sites.

Running Head: SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
Thesis statement: Factors behind the popularity of sports heritage sites.
Heritage tourism is highly popular among the tourists because of its different cultural value and
projection. According to Kohe heritage tourism is defined as a type of tourism where the tourist
sites are located in different heritage spots1. It can be based on culture or sports but the interests
of the tourists and the promotional measures of heritage tourism are contributed primarily to the
success of the heritage tourism. Experiencing the artefacts and activities of the place in reference
to its stories and people of the past intrigues the tourists a lot to visit those places. In this regard,
sports heritage tourism is a new addition to the popular heritage sites. It is important to know that
sports lovers are the primary visitors who are generally visited to different sports heritage spots.
Nevertheless, people who are seeking interests in past have also keen interests in visiting sports
heritage sites. Fairley and Gammon opined that one of the major reason for increasing rate of
visitors in sports heritage sites was basically due to the new addition of sports as historical
context2. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on the role and process of attraction of the sport
heritage sites to attract visitors extensively.
For developing a sports heritage tourism it is essential to identify the characteristics of the
tourists and the economic forces that are contributed to the popularity of sports heritage sites.
The change in the attitude of the visitors and their interests to get more concern regarding the
sports heritage sites leads to the technological implementation into the organisational practice.
Therefore, this essay is trying to develop an effective and critical discussion regarding the sports
heritage sites with the help of different concepts and history, heritage and legacy of the sites.
1Kohe, Geoffery Z. "Civic representations of sport history: the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame." Sport in
Society 13, no. 10 (2010): 1498-1515.
2Fairley, Sheranne, and Sean Gammon. "Something lived, something learned: Nostalgia's expanding role in sport
tourism." Sport in Society 8, no. 2 (2005): 182-197.

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Therefore, two sports heritage sites such as Twickenham world rugby museum and the Hockey
Museum hall of fame, Canada have been taken in order to conduct a comparative study on the
two sports heritage sites.
There are certainly a number of characteristics that drives the popularity of a sports
heritage site. The empirical studies have identified three potential forces such as the economic
force, technological advancement and the value changes that can influence the popularity of the
sports heritages. Based on the research of Ramshaw and Gammonit can be stated that the
economic factors for deciding the status and popularity of a sports heritage site3. The expenditure
for the site and its target audience is also an essential factor to identify the potential visitors.
Affluent families with their type of jobs or employment details drive them towards the sports
heritage sites. The concept of leisure time experience is also resembled with the sports heritage
sites where the number of visitors are expected to have a number of sports tourism activities
within the afforded price. Therefore, the concept of economy is seemed to have a great deal of
impact on the coming of the maximum number of visitors. Moreover, it can be stated that
developing and maintaining the sports heritage sites is also of paramount importance because it
is the responsibility of authority to set and maintain the site for further customer attraction.
Therefore, time and money have a pivotal role in course of maximising the visitors and
developing attractions to a great extent.
In this context, for the Twickenham world rugby museum the authority tries to make an
affordable pricing based on the age and profession of the visitors. For example, the adult visitors
have to pay £25 for the museum and stadium tour whereas the museum tour only costs £12.504.
3Ramshaw, Gregory, and Sean Gammon. "Heritage and sport." In The Palgrave handbook of contemporary heritage
research, pp. 248-260. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2015.
4worldrugbymuseum.com. 2019. "About". Worldrugbymuseum.Com. http://www.worldrugbymuseum.com/about.

3SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
Moreover, for the students and senior citizens there are concessions of 20% so that they can also
get attracted with the museum. Apart from that timing of the Twickenham world rugby museum
is also very flexible where the opening in weekdays is from 10am to 5pm. Indeed, in Sunday also
the museum is opened. As a result of the strategic fair and timing, it becomes effective for the
Twickenham world rugby museum authority to maximise its customers. However, the museum
authority tries to make a balance between the match fixtures and visiting hours of the tourists.
All these information are mentioned in the official website so that the visitors will get adequate
information regarding the museum. From Image 1, it can be seen that the Twickenham world
rugby museum is highly popular due to a number of artefacts like the Calcutta Cup. This cup is
the oldest several individual competition and currently put on a public display in the
Twickenham world rugby museum.
On the other hand, Hockey Museum hall of fame, Canada is opened in the weekdays
from Thursday to Sunday from 12 noon to 6pm. However, the museum does not have any
ticketing system rather it runs through donations and sponsors. There are number of important
sponsors and partners like V.J. McMullin and Bakertilly who are highly supported the
organisation financially. Apart from that there is also voluntary donations for getting
membership of minimum $255. The organisation also sale classic apparel and accessories. It is a
promotional approach that the organisation follows in order to maximise its customers and
visitors. As a result of that the Hockey Museum hall of fame, Canada succeeds to have a
confident and loyal customer base that can contribute to the organisation positively. One of the
major artefact that the Hockey Museum hall of fame has possessed is Ken Danby’s 1972 classic
5originalhockeyhalloffame.com. 2019. "About The Original Hockey Hall Of Fame". Originalhockeyhalloffame.Com.
http://www.originalhockeyhalloffame.com/about/.

4SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
painting of a goalie. The image is identified as “A Canadian Icon” so that it has immense value
in Canada (Image 2).
Technological advancement has become an important aspect for tourism nowadays
because it makes the sites more attractive to the visitors. The locations of the organisation is also
an important aspect to use technology in a great extent. Transportation and hospitality industry
are also the determinant factors for developing a good sports heritage site. The wide range of
technological development helps the museum to make the demonstration more appealing and
attractive to the visitors. Appel articulated that rapid expansion of sport tourism increases the
access, availability and ease of participation of the visitors6. In fact, with the help of internet,
most of the Sports heritage sites are trying to provide a glimpse of the events and the
demonstrations so that the visitors get attracted positively. It is referred as a promotional measure
that the museums are trying to develop. In this regard, the role of the social media is also highly
significant where the organisations are trying to develop communication with the target visitors
directly. On the other hand, the visitors also get a glimpse of the exhibitions and events that
intrigue them to attend the events. Therefore, it can be stated that like the general tourism
practice, the sport heritage tourism also uses social media and internet as a tool of promotion.
Based on this understanding, for the Twickenham world rugby museum it can be seen
that the museum using the social media dominantly in order to bring more visitors into the fold.
Moreover, there is also options where the interested visitors can share gallery photos and stories
with friends and interested people through the social media. Therefore, this technological
inclusion helps the museum to increase its expected visitors gradually. Moreover, there are direct
6Appel, Hans Henrik. "‘Proper museum’or branding platform? Club museums in England." Soccer & Society 16, no.
2-3 (2015): 294-306.

5SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
and third party booking systems also available for the visitors as a part of the advanced
technological usage. Third party booking can be placed through applications like ‘trip advisors’.
As a result of that it becomes an effective measure for the museum to attract visitors as much
possible. The history of rugby missionaries are also projected with the help of technology in
Twickenham world rugby museum. Therefore, it increase the visitors’ attraction greatly (Image
3).
In compare to the customer maximisation techniques of Twickenham world rugby
museum, Hockey Museum hall of fame tries to maximise its visitor base with the help of online
shopping, donations and sports. The approach is more direct to engage the visitors to the
organisational activities but in a step by step measure. First of all, the online stores will provoke
the interested visitors to buy products in the form of apparels and accessories. As a result of that
it becomes effective for the museum to get the behaviour and interests of the potential visitors.
After that influencing the customers to get membership through donations is the core step that
Hockey Museum hall of fame tries to manage its financial stability. However, the use of
technology is not so good in compare to the Twickenham world rugby museum. Hockey
Museum hall of fame does have limited use of social media tools. Moreover, a business approach
is clearly reflected in the activities of Hockey Museum hall of fame that is sometimes rejected by
the interested people. Therefore, the use of technology should be implemented rigorously in
order to maximise customers. In addition to this, there is limited information about the
organisation in its websites. As a result of that it becomes a negative approach to increase the
number of customers effectively. From Image 4, it can be stated that using technology to
demonstrate the history of women’s hockey is definitely an important and strategic aspect that
Hockey Museum hall of fame follows.

6SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
The attitudinal changes and the value changes of the visitors is also considered to be a
pertinent aspect that can create popularity of the sports heritage site. From the research of Moore
it can be derived that the promotion of the tourism sites is highly significant because it will assist
the sites to get popular through creating values on the basis of degree of visitors attitude7. Indeed
there are some cultural values aligned with the sports heritage sites that emphasises leisure,
hedonism and self-realisation of the visitors. As a result of that it becomes important for the
sports heritage sites to influence the visitors through the use of its values and importance in the
society. Moreover, the change in the behaviour of the visitors can be succeeded through
experiencing them with the history and values of the sport. It can be seen that a number of sports
heritage sites using the apparels and accessories as a tool to incorporate the visitors with the story
of the organisation. This practice is also effective for the organisations as the visitors can
experience with the history of the sport. Gammon and Fear opined it is essential for the museums
and sports heritage site authority to engage the visitors with the story of sports in such a way so
that they can feel highly influenced and interested in visiting the site once again8. In this regard,
using apparels and accessories are also important for the sports heritage site authority.
In response to this, Twickenham world rugby museum tries to attract the sports lovers
through creating different and interesting workshops and events on the basis of the desire and
preference of the visitors to some extent. Currently the museum authority interested in
conducting a unique event based on Japanese art and craft session. Therefore, attracting and
engaging the visitors is certainly an important aspect that the organisation tries to put a great deal
of focus. Therefore, the session also conducts a specific measure where the family and children
7Moore, Kevin. "Sports heritage and the re‐imaged city: the National Football Museum, Preston." International
Journal of Cultural Policy 14, no. 4 (2008): 445-461.
8Gammon, Sean, and Victoria Fear. "3. Stadia Tours and the Power of Backstage." In Heritage, Sport and Tourism,
pp. 33-42. Routledge, 2013.

7SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
will join in the session and crafting and designing own rugby caps in Japanese style. In this
regard, the Twickenham world rugby museum authority meets two ends. In one hand, the
exhibition of Japanese rugby culture is demonstrated to the visitors and on the other, engaging
the families and children in crafting and designing their own rugby caps will help to share the
history and style with the visitors. It helps Twickenham world rugby museum not only to engage
the visitors with the events but also offers them leisure time so that they can learn and spending
enough time in the museum. It helps the museum to enhance its visitor’s base and use it to
maximise the visitors effectively. Values are also developed through the exhibitions that
Twickenham world rugby museum is trying. In respect to this, Image 10 proves that exhibiting
equipment in older games intrigues the sports fan to get more interests about the game.
On the contrary, Hockey Museum hall of fame follows a different approach of engaging
the visitors with the demonstrations and exhibitions. It is important to know that the authority is
always looking for strong customer base that will provide adequate measure to the Hockey
Museum hall of fame to generate positive image and value to the visitors. Apart from conducting
interesting events and shows, the authority also opens the online purchasing platform that will
increase the value of the organisation to a great extent as the visitors will buy apparels and
accessories from the organisation and get attracted with the history of the Hockey Museum hall
of fame. Apart from that Hockey Museum hall of fame also tries to provide offers and gifts to the
visitors who have membership in that organisation through donations. Therefore, it seems to be a
professional approach that Hockey Museum hall of fame follows in order to maximise its
customers. There are different exhibitions as well for attracting the visitors further. For instance,
the Don Cherry exhibit and original six collection are the primary events organised by Hockey
Museum hall of fame. Exhibiting the jersey of Lliam Webster provided a deep insights into the

8SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
history of Australian hockey where under the leadership of Webster, the Australian National
Hockey Team won international world hockey gold for the second time at any level (Image 5).
Based on this understanding, it can be stated that the visitors’ engagement practice of Hockey
Museum hall of fame is far dynamic in compare to Twickenham world rugby museum because
of the use of different approaches and practices that are helping to engage the visitors to a great
extent.
The research of Frost pointed out that history and heritage were also contributed a lot in
the process of maximising and attracting the visitors9. The cultural implication is definitely
added up some value into the practice where the visitors can choose their sports heritage sites
based on the popularity of the historical stories and legacies. Therefore, for the sports heritage
tourism history and heritage consider to be the part and parcel of the sports heritage tourism
organisation. It is the responsibility for the organisation to increase its popularity by sharing the
rich historical stories and legacies and attracts visitors as far as it can. There are certainly a
number of chances that the organisations can follow to share its stories and legacies by directly
involving the visitors within the events or managing its visitors through the use of different
professional practices like selling apparels and accessories. Henceforth, the culture and legacy of
the organisation have definitely a role to play in order to maximise its visitors and popularise its
culture as well. Kohe advocated that uniqueness of the events and historical narration are also
contributed a lot to the maximisation of visitors10. Therefore, it will be effective for the sports
heritage sites to attract the customers through ventilating its rich legacy and history.
9Frost, Warwick. "The sustainability of sports heritage attractions: lessons from the Australian Football League Hall
of Fame." Journal of sport tourism 10, no. 4 (2005): 295-305.
10Kohe, Geoffery Z. "Civic representations of sport history: the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame." Sport in
Society 13, no. 10 (2010): 1498-1515.

9SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
The Twickenham world rugby museum has a prolonged history started since 1979 when
the Rugby Football Union exhibited memorabilia inside the Twickenham Stadium. However, the
museum was inaugurated officially in 1996 when the Museum of Rugby was constructed in the
East Stand. However, the museum was renamed in 2007 as World Rugby Museum with the focal
point on heritage and culture of rugby around the world. The informal museum has been came
under professional approach in 2017 where it was rebuilt in the south stand with a worth of £1.8
million by Rugby Football Union. There are certainly a number of important aspect that lingers
with the Twickenham world rugby museum such as its benevolent practice of establishing an
effective measure to popularise rugby sport around the world. Not only that the museum is also
trying to exhibit different arts and tradition of rugby football prevalent across the world. The
mission statement of the museum also provides the same notion by stating that it is entitled to
project and popularise unique history, culture and tradition of rugby union with all its forms so
that the fans and interested visitors can get a clear image of different types and tradition of rugby
sports. As a result of that the museum is also recorded over 38,000 recorded objects, 15,000
pieces of archival materials and 9,000 photographs that are highly valuable and portray a clear
image of the rugby sports culture across the world.
The Hockey Museum hall of fame is located at the Kingston’s Invista Centre at Gardiners
Road. The museum is considered to be the most unique and rarest museum with a number of
important hockey artefacts that are highlighted the history of hockey and teach the visitors about
the evolution of the game and its important role that Kingston had played through the
establishment of the museum. As a matter of fact, the foundation of Hockey Museum hall of
fame in Kingston had a purpose. In this place the first organised Hockey game was played in
1886. Don Cherry was a very popular figure in the history of Canadian hockey who was also

10SPORTS HERITAGE ESSAY
belonged to Kingston. Therefore, it is obvious that the Hockey Museum hall of fame has been
played an eminent role in the history of Canadian hockey and placed itself as a pioneer institute
of recording and achieving the history of history of Canadian Hockey. The museum was founded
by the National Hockey League and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1943 and is
considered to be the oldest sports hall of fame in Canada.
The above discussion is trying to create a deep insights into the importance of sports
heritage sites and the way those sights are trying to attract and influence the visitors. There are
certainly a number of important aspect that this essay is trying to address in order to project the
importance and value of the sports heritage sites in current scenario. In addition to this, the
changing nature of the tourism industry in association with the transformation in the demand and
expectation of the visitors, it can be argued that there is huge transitions in the activity and style
of sports heritage sites as well. An extensive professional approach in addition with the process
of delivering the stories and events in a sophisticated way with the help of new technologies and
manner. In this regard, this essay is trying to understand those changes through the glance of
three distinctive but correlated factors that are responsible to change the very nature of the sports
heritage sites. Moreover, choosing two different sites with different countries is also provided a
dynamic and deep insights into the functionality of sports heritage sites. Therefore, this essay is
choosing Twickenham world rugby museum, UK and Hockey Museum hall of fame, Canada as
the sports heritage tourist sites. The legacy and heritage are contributed enough for popularising
the sports heritage sites. In this case, both Twickenham world rugby museum and Hockey
Museum hall of fame have a legacy of safeguarding the history of sports. Therefore, attracting
tourists or visitors through incorporating them into the exhibitions and gallery will definitely
share the same purpose as other heritage sites follow. Henceforth, it can be concluded that the

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essay successfully portrays a number of important characteristics of sports heritage site that will
helps to shape the popularity of those sites.