FiT Publishing

It is less than a month to opening day as Bradley Dodson, General Manager, walks through Historic Grayson Stadium with John Simmons, the owner of the Savannah Sand Gnats. They survey the renovation of the stadium, comment on all the work that has been done, and contemplate what the future holds for the Sand Gnats. Dodson has been preparing for a staff meeting to discuss where the Sand Gnats stand and how to improve the organization. As he takes a seat in the stands and peers out to left field where the bleachers have been removed and the wall still needs to be finished, he considers “What...Read more

The ability to draw attendees to performances is vital to the success of a sport organization. As a result, sport managers and academics attempt to investigate motivations that drive decisions to attend events. In order to make predictions, academic demands have lead to the proliferation of instruments and constructs to capture a wide variety of motives, but these tools have limited ability to explain game attendance; and practitioners demand shorter scales to increase efficiency. The purpose of this research is to provide a parsimonious measuring tool of motives to explain sport event...Read more

Sportscape refers to service extensions and the physical surroundings of a sports event. This is a case study that focuses on sportscape factors and how they influence the overall satisfaction of spectators attending a PGA TOUR event. Golf is different from other sports in that it has a flexible venue and is experienced differently by spectators and, therefore, careful analysis must be given to sportscape factors. A survey was developed and implemented at a PGA TOUR event to identify the influence of eight specific sportscape factors on the level of satisfaction of spectators. Based on...Read more

The focus of this study was threefold: 1) to create a comprehensive list of possible structural constraints to attending a sport event; 2) to create categories of structural constraints; and 3) to determine whether males differed from females and whether attendees differed from non-attendees on structural constraints of sport attendance. Thirteen different structural constraint dimensions were identified from factor analysis. There were significant and meaningful differences by gender. Males perceived that the opportunity for other sport entertainment, and lack of team success, were...Read more

More than 100 new minor league baseball stadiums were built in the 1990s and early 2000s following the opening of several successful new venues in Major League Baseball. Sports economics literature suggests that the economic impact potential of new stadiums is overstated because attendance gains from new stadiums are short lived (i.e., a novelty effect). This study examined the impact of new minor league baseball stadiums on annual attendance using attendance data from 101 stadiums opened between 1993 and 2004. Results indicated that attendance levels attained the first year a stadium...Read more

Founded in 2001, the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) began its existence basking in the reflected glory of the unprecedented media coverage of the 1999 Women's World Cup Finals. However, for any sport league to be successful, it must generate sufficient revenue to cover operating expenses. While the WUSA declared itself a major league and based its strategic plan on a philosophy of being the world's premier women's professional soccer league, its fan base suggested a much moreRead more

Although sport scientists have examined a number of factors that increase attendance at sporting events (e.g., promotions, ticket cost), the impact of scarcity has remained uninvestigated. Based on past research in consumer psychology, it was hypothesized that individuals would report a greater interest in attending a sporting event in which few tickets remained (i.e., the scarce condition) than when tickets remained abundant (the not scarce condition). Additionally, previous studies have predicted that persons with a high level of identification with a target team would be more interested...Read more

Although sport scientists have examined a number of factors that increase attendance at sporting events (e.g., promotions, ticket cost), the impact of scarcity has remained uninvestigated. Based on past research in consumer psychology, it was hypothesized that individuals would report a greater interest in attending a sporting event in which few tickets remained (i.e., the scarce condition) than when tickets remained abundant (the not scarce condition). Additionally, previous studies have predicted that persons with a high level of identification with a target team would be more interested...Read more