Negative Influence of Market Competitors on the Attendance of Professional Sport Games: The Case of a Minor League Hockey Team

Abstract

Through identifying market competitors of a minor league professional hockey team, this case study was designed to test the hypothesis that substitute forms of entertainment and other sport attractions would negatively affect the attendance of a sport team. From interviewing the team administrators and a review of literature, 15 possible entertainment options were identified in the greater metropolitan community. The Scale for Entertainment Choice (SEC) was formulated by phrasing entertainment options into test items in Likert 5-scale and presenting items in a random order. Selected by random cluster sampling procedures, spectators (N = 2,225) from six second-half season home games of the hockey team participated in the study. Survey packets including the SEC and game attendance frequencies were passed out to the subjects during the first intermission and collected during the second intermission of a game. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that the primary competitions for a minor league team came from the major league sports, movies, recreational participation, and TV. Several marketing strategies were suggested, along with a research model for other professional teams.