Repeat Attendance as a Function of Involvement, Loyalty, and the Sportscape Across Three Football Contexts

TLDR

Spectators’ experience of a game must be understood through the fanship characteristics they bring and the expectations tied to different competition contexts. The study examined 530 spectators at three rugby league stadia—each venue representing a distinct competition level—and used hierarchical regressions to test how personal attachment and sportscape experience predict future attendance intentions. Spectators were divided into home‑team supporters and non‑supporters; for supporters, psychological involvement predicted future attendance across all venues, loyalty mattered only at ANZ Stadium, and sportscape perceptions improved predictions with venue‑specific elements, whereas for non‑supporters sportscape perceptions did not enhance attendance predictions.

Abstract

Effects of the sportscape as well as personal attachment to sport and team were studied in a sample of 530 spectators at three rugby league stadia. Two spectator segments were identified at each venue: those who came to support the home team, and those who did not. Each venue served as a proxy for a different level of competition: home of a winning team in the top league (ANZ Stadium), home of a losing team in the top league (Carrara Stadium), and home of a minor league team (Pizzey Park). Hierarchical regressions tested the effects of personal attachment and experience of the sportscape on future attendance intentions. Psychological involvement with the sport of rugby league was a significant predictor of future attendance motivation for supporters of the home team regardless of context, but loyalty to the home team was only a significant predictor for supporters of the home team at ANZ Stadium. Perceptions of the sportscape improved prediction of future attendance intentions for spectators supporting the home team in each of the three venues, but the specific sportscape elements that best represented that effect were different in each case. For spectators not supporting the home team at Pizzey Park and at Carrara Stadium, perceptions of the sportscape did not enhance prediction of future attendance intentions. It is argued that the spectator's experience of a game needs to be understood in terms of the characteristics of fanship that he or she brings to the event, as well as in terms of the particular expectations that are associated with different competition contexts.