In athletics terminology, barnstorming refers to sports teams or individual athletes who travel to various locations, usually small towns, to stage exhibition matches. The term is primarily used in the United States. Barnstorming teams differ from traveling teams in that they operate outside the framework of an established athletic league, while traveling teams are designated by a league, formally or informally, to be a designated visiting team.[1]
Barnstorming allowed athletes to compete in two sports; for example, Goose Reece Tatum played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters and baseball for a Negro leagues barnstorming team. Some barnstorming teams lack home arenas, while others go on "barnstorming tours" in the off-season.
- ^ Thomas Barthel (21 March 2007). Baseball Barnstorming and Exhibition Games, 1901-1962: A History of Off-Season Major League Play. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2811-3. OL 17844873M. Wikidata Q105271586.