Will the real fans please remain seated? Gender and television ratings for pre-game and game broadcasts

Abstract

Highlights• This study examines how television audience composition varies by gender for pre-game and game broadcasts.• Our findings support the previously held notion of how female pre-game viewership may be used to establish veritable fan status.• Determinants of intra-match viewership are then analyzed via a series of regression models, with more of the variance explained as games progress.• We compare the resulting coefficient estimates of demand determinants for each gender and discuss both the similarities and differences found between female and male fans.