Smith and Street's (2009) annual survey of the size of the 2008 sports business industry was estimated at $213 billion. 13.4 % of that was generated by sports spectators' expenditure on tickets, concessions, etc. The impact of sport related expenditure is significant. Sport fan and spectator motivation studies (Robertson & Pope, 1999; Snelgrove, Taks, Chalip, & Green, 2008) have been conducted in the last 20 years. The plethora of spectator motives has made it difficult to compare results and generalize findings across the board for all sports. For example, Bernthal and Graham (2003) found that collegiate baseball fans differed in motivation from minor league baseball fans. In this study, the relation between motivation and expenditure of National Football League fans in a Midwestern city were investigated.
Method
A convenience sampling methodology was used on 2009/10 regular season attendees. Fan motivation was the dependent variable and Wann's (1995) Sport Fan Motivation Scale was used. It is a reliable and valid instrument (Wann, Schrader, & Wilson, 1999) comprising of eight factors: Self-esteem, Eustress, Entertainment, Economic, Aesthetic, Group Affiliation, Family, and Escape. Annual NFL related expenditure was the independent variable and it was measured using an open-ended question.
Analysis/Results
The sample size was n=158 (74 males, 48 females) and the age ranged from 18 to 66 years. Expenditure responses ranged from $0 - $10,000.00 (M = 1130.90, SD = 1988.23). Two expenditure groups were formed (Low vs High) by using the median value. A Hotelling's T2 test was conducted on the motivation factors. Expenditure significantly affected the composite dependent variate (Wilks' lambda = .84, F[2, 120] = 2.76, p < .01, partial eta2 = .163). Univariate ANOVAs were conducted on each dependent measure separately as follow-up tests. It was found that Expenditure significantly differs for Self-esteem, F (1, 120) = 11.56, p< .01, and Entertainment, F (1, 120) = 10.87, p< .01. Respondents in the high expenditure group showed higher levels of self-esteem and entertainment motivation than those in the low expenditure group.
Conclusions
Identifying fans with different motivations will enable sport marketers to better target fans with different spending propensity. For example, ticket and concessions executives should identify fans motivated by self-esteem and entertainment factors to encourage greater sales volume. It is suggested the findings of this study be limited to other area teams of the same competition level. Sample size was small and further investigation is recommended.