1. Blogs And Tribal Formation of NFL Fans
Blogs And Tribal Formation of NFL Fans **** The Curious Case of the Pittsburgh Steelers

2. Evolution Of Communication Tools The Rise of Radio, Television and the NFL
: Inaugural year of professional football in United States. First professional sporting event (boxing) broadcast on the radio in 1921
1945 – NFL expands. More teams means more mass appeal. Commercial airlines allow for cross country travel.
1950s: First league wide television contract, showcasing the Steelers to the country
RCA, Westinghouse, G.E., and AT&T consolidate control of airwaves. Radio emulating ‘spoke-and-hub’ model adopted by newspapers at similar time.

3. Why The Steelers? Non-Natives Pick Their Team

4. The Native Tribe Disperses

5. The 1970s – Notes From The Diaspora During A Dynastic Period

6. Pick A Tribe. Be Loyal. Have HOPE!

7. A Ubiquitous Connected + Vocal Tribe
More Steelers specific blogs than any other team in the NFL
All 50 states and over 40 countries represented on BehindtheSteelCurtain

8. What’s Next?

9. Credits
Presented by:
Michael Bean, MCDM Candidate ,University of Washington, COM 549
March 10th, 2009
Image Credits:
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
CBS.Sportsline.com
SteelGridiron.com
ESPN.com
Guardian.UK.com
Oboylephoto.com