FiT Publishing

This study examined the effectiveness of sportswear companies’ sponsorship of intercollegiate athletic departments, and the subsequent effects on the students of the university. The value of these sponsorship contracts has grown exponentially, with new contracts averaging $6 million a year per institution (Kish, 2014). However, little research has been devoted to the impact of the relationship between sportswear brands and university students, and it is uncertain what the return on investment of these sponsorships are to the apparel companies, other than media exposure. To examine how...Read more

American universities, belatedly following their professional sports counterparts, are constructing new stadiums. A portion of the funds typically provided to athletic departments are drawn from general university resources. Besides increased revenue flows, indirect benefits that contribute to university objectives are typically cited as part of the demand for a new college stadium. Examples of these spillover benefits are an enhanced campus community, a higher quality student body, and more alumni donations. We analyze a university’s stadium proposal and apply standard capital budgeting...Read more

Do big-time college sports affect state appropriations to public colleges and universities? Little attention has been given to the possibility that big-time athletic programs generate economic benefits for a university at the state capital. The paper estimates a reduced form model of the determination of annual state appropriations to public universities, including institution-specific effects to control for unobservable factors like mission and reputation that could affect appropriations. The results suggest that institutions fielding Division I-A football programs receive 8% more in...Read more

The current study quantitatively investigated how fan perceptions and willingness to consider committing anonymous acts of aggression toward participants of the rival teams differed between a rival in a current conference and an anticipated one in a new conference. A sample of 168 online fans of teams affected by conference realignment were administered a survey containing the Sport Rivalry Fan Perception Scale (SRFPS: Havard, Gray, Gould, Sharp, & Schaffer, 2013) and questions regarding willingness to consider committing anonymous acts of aggression (Wann, Haynes, McLean, & Pullen...Read more

The present study uses a rigorous procedure to examine the applicability, validity, and reliability of the Team Brand Association Scale (TBAS) in the context of intercollegiate ice hockey. Results from a sample of 349 season ticket holders from an intercollegiate ice hockey team indicated that the TBAS instrument was indeed valid in the collegiate sport setting. Given the functionality of the TBAS in the area of intercollegiate sport, university athletic marketers should be actively assessing the associations pertaining to specific teams. Furthermore, through an understanding of team brand...Read more

college, fan behavior, donorsRead more