What Types of Chinese Rural Sports Attract Attention: Take the Village Basketball Association as an Example

Abstract

In August 2022, a video clip of the 'Beautiful Village Basketball Association' in Guizhou, China, known as the 'Village Basketball Association' (VBA), went viral on Tik Tok (Tik Tok, a social media platform for creative videos of music, is the largest knowledge communication platform in China.). Using this as an example, this study analyzes the reasons for the VBA’s rapid popularity as a reflection of the new elements of rural sports communication. Results herein bridge current gaps of sports communication in contemporary Chinese villages and explores a new form of cultural empowerment for rural sports. Moreover, 71,325 comments from the VBA’s ten most popular Tik Tok clips were analyzed in Python using high-frequency word analysis, sentiment analysis, and co-occurrence word analysis through text mining methods. The study found that the atmosphere, which features bustling noise and excitement, is the main attraction for the public. The distinctive cheerleading and rewards of the VBA also starkly contrast with the NBA. Third, the main participants are local villagers and public participation is extremely high. Lastly, because no form of capital is involved, it is perceived as a purely sporting activity so that many people are tempted to join.