Environmental Factors Associated With Spectator Attendance and Sport

Janet S. Fink
Galen T. Trail
Dean F. Anderson

Sport spectating is a popular leisure activity in the United States; however, the study of sport spectator consumption behavior has been limited. The current study examines the differences that exist between genders and between spectators at men’s and women’s intercollegiate basketball games regarding several categories of dependent variables. The three categories were (a) environmental factors associated with game attendance (ticket pricing, friends, family, and promotions), (b) present behavior of spectators (merchandise consumption, media consumption, and wearing of team paraphernalia), and (c) future behavior of fans (continued loyalty, future attendance, and future merchandise consumption). Data were collected from spectators at two men’s (n = 531) and two women’s (n = 751) intercollegiate home basketball games. Multivariate analysis of variance results for the main effects of team gender and spectator gender were significant, while the interaction effect was not. Fewer gender differences were found (5 of 12) compared to the number of gender- of-team differences (10 of 12) when univariate results were examined. Results are discussed in detail, and implications for practice and for future research are suggested.