Scheduled for Sport Management, Psychology, and Leisure & Recreation Posters, Thursday, April 1, 2004, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Session


Spectating Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Games: A Study of MiLB Spectators' Sociological Motivation on Their Own League

Soonhwan Lee, College Misericordia, Daphne, AL and Hyosung Chun, United States Sports Academy, Daphne, AL

This study was designed to elicit demographic data and examine the sociological motivation of spectators attending Minor League Baseball (MiLB) games. Specifically, the research questions for the study were: (a) Which (if any) demographic variables are associated with any sociological motivational characteristics? and (b) Do the identified eight factors contribute to the fan motivation of spectators to attend MiLB games? The survey was comprised of 25 separate items and includes a series of questions relating to the following three areas: 1) demographic information (6 items), 2) behavioral information (3 items), and 3) sociological motivation information (16 items). For the survey of sociological motivation, the Scale of Attendance Motivation (SAM) (Zhang, Pease, Lam, Bellerive, Pham, Williamson, Lee, & Wall, 2001) and the Sport Fan Motivation Scale (SFMS) (Wann, Schrader, & Wilson, 1999) were modified and used with a 7-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The primary data were obtained from baseball spectators who were attending MiLB games. In summarizing the descriptive results of the study, a total of 315 participants served as respondents, of which 282 data were used for analysis. The sample of respondents consisted of 155 males (N=155, 55%) and 127 females (N=112, 45%). As found in other spectator contexts, the results of this study found that various motivational dimensions do indeed influence spectator intentions to attend MiLB games. Additionally, different factors were more important for some types of spectators, based on demographic data, than for others. Overall, the results of this study support the premise that MiLB teams should develop targeted marketing strategies in order to effectively reach various types of customers. In particular, MiLB teams should develop a positive relationship with the local communities and the public. This is the case when the market of each MiLB region is relatively small and the teams do not receive the attention from the media and corporate sponsors as MLB teams do. Depending upon the size of the population and market characteristics, MiLB teams should use and apply the factors of sociological motivation that may increase the level of MiLB baseball attendance. Based on these results, implications for MiLB organizations and for future research are discussed.
Keyword(s): sport management

Back to the 2004 AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition