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- Title
The Geography of Visitor Attendance at College Football Games.
- Authors
Leonard, James M.
- Abstract
Most studies of sports attendance omit "geography" from the equation or toss in some geographic factor as a socio-demographic factor in a multivariate statistical model. Traditional studies of fan motivation or production and demand factors can produce conflicting results or fail to fully account for variation in attendance. This study of the geography of sports attendance analyzes visitor fan support at college football games in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for the years 2001 and 2002. The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to evaluate visitor attendance at college football games as an addition to the literature on sports attendance that has previously concentrated on home attendance at professional and minor league games, and (2) to assess the use of geographic principles of spatial interaction in conjunction with demand and production elements as a means of predicting the volume of visitor attendance at college football games. Correlation and regression analysis permitted the identification of candidate parameters for the gravity model of spatial interaction from a variety of traditional factors (e.g., win/loss variables) and gravity model components (fan base and distance). The identified parameters produced a measurably strong relationship between visitor ticket sales and gravity model estimates. Chi-square analysis shows that where the model was a poor fit, team marketing and rivalries play a significant role. The viability of the gravity model for predicting visitor fan attendance makes it a valuable tool to assess team marketing efforts and the effects of conference realignments.
- Subjects
COLLEGE sports -- Social aspects; GEOGRAPHICAL perception; MULTIVARIATE analysis; FOOTBALL fans; FOOTBALL attendance; CHI-squared test; STATISTICAL correlation; REGRESSION analysis
- Publication
Journal of Sport Behavior, 2005, Vol 28, Issue 3, p231
- ISSN
0162-7341
- Publication type
Article