Spectator support: examining the attributes that differentiate niche from mainstream sport.

Greenhalgh, Greg P. ; Simmons, Jason M. ; Hambrick, Marion E. 等

Introduction

There is little doubt the sports world is different today than it was 20 years ago as there are now a number of offerings designed to appeal to smaller, more focused segments. There are now a variety of cable and satellite channels including the Golf Channel, SPEED Network, and the Outdoor Channel. On today's newsstands, there are a variety of options such as Inside Lacrosse, VeloNews, and Paddling. And where the major team sports such as football, baseball, men's basketball, and men's ice hockey (Kahn, 2000) have traditionally provided the majority of spectating opportunities in the US, there are now numerous nonmainstream sports to appeal to sports fans with unique tastes.

Each of these products appeals to smaller, more focused audiences, also known as niche markets or niche segments. Marketing to smaller segments allows organizations to capitalize on the interests of homogenous groups with distinct tastes by specializing to their unique needs (Dalgic & Leeuw, 1994; Kara & Kaynak, 1997; Parrish, Cassill, & Oxenham, 2006; Toften & Hammervoll, 2009). Sport properties marketed to these narrow markets are often referred to as niche sports. Niche sports have been identified as sports that are not mainstream and do not appeal to a mass audience (Miloch & Lambrecht, 2006) and include sports such as bull riding, beach volleyball, women's basketball, and lacrosse (Lehman, 2007). These niche sports are becoming more prevalent in the sport landscape, yet little research has been conducted to examine the differences between traditional mainstream sport products and niche sport products.

In the US, the term "mainstream sports" typically refers to professional football, professional basketball, professional baseball (Rinehart, 2005), and arguably professional hockey, golf, and auto racing (Sport Business Research Network, 2010). The sport properties commonly tagged as "mainstream" in the US typically include the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the National Basketball Association (NBA) (Titlebaum & Lawrence, 2010). Commonalities among mainstream sports include large fan bases, broad appeal, and widespread media coverage. Conversely, niche sports receive limited fan support and media attention. This division is evident from the findings of Sport Business Research Network's (SBRnet) 2009 survey of 12,000 US consumers age 16 and over. SBRnet reported that 47.2% of respondents had watched or attended at least one NFL game in 2009. Similarly, 35.7% of the respondents reported attending or watching an MLB game, and 19.5% had attended or watched an NBA game. Alternatively, respondents indicated only 8.5% had viewed or attended a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) game, 5.3% a Major League Soccer (MLS) game, and 2.5% a minor league hockey game (Sport Business Research Network, 2010).

Niche sport properties, such as the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), MLS, Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), Professional Bull Riders (PBR), MiLB, National Basketball Development League (NBDL), Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and Major League Lacrosse (MLL), face unique challenges not faced by their mainstream counterparts. Unlike mainstream sports, niche sport properties do not have the luxury of daily news coverage in the local and national newspaper sports sections. In fact, most of these sports are not featured on any of the sports news outlets or highlight shows such as ESPN's SportsCenter. As a result, niche sport properties must create and sustain their own publicity, market share, and fan base in order to survive. In addition, franchise and league attrition is more prevalent within niche sports. Quite often, leagues will expand and contract, trying to find the optimal size and geographic reach to make their properties more profitable and sustainable. These challenges make niche sports a very volatile industry segment with little direction or support to enhance their sustainability. Niche sport products such as the Extreme Football League (XFL) and the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) are just two examples of niche sport properties failing to sustain a unique slice of the sport spectator market share, and thus they faltered after only a short life-span.

Despite the challenges, the task of creating and sustaining a profitable niche sport league, or team, is not insurmountable. After struggling to survive for many years, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has developed a growing, loyal fan base. While the sport is still far from being considered mainstream, organizations such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Dream, and Strikeforce have been able to experience a degree of success marketing to a niche segment (Kim, Andrew, & Greenwell, 2009). Lacrosse is another example of a nontraditional sport capitalizing on the opportunity to attract younger spectators and participants with the hopes of turning them into lifelong lacrosse fans (Kojima, 2010). As a result, lacrosse has witnessed significant growth among spectators and participants in recent years. An estimated 100,000 fans attended the 2009 NCAA Division I men's championship weekend held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. Over one million youth and adults played the sport at least once in 2007, a 40% jump from 1999 (Trachtenberg & Evans, 2009).

As part of an effective marketing strategy for reaching niche segments, niche properties' marketing strategies should be focused on developing a competitive advantage through product differentiation (Toften & Hammervoll, 2009). Product differentiation has previously been examined within sport marketing research in an effort to better understand the factors and attributes which drive professional sport attendance (Hansen & Gauthier, 1989) and the unique attributes associated with selected intercollegiate sports (Pan & Baker, 1999). According to Dickson and Ginter (1987), product differentiation is the consumers' perception that a product offering is different from its competitors on any "physical or nonphysical product characteristic including price" (p. 4). Within sport marketing, an understanding of product differentiation would allow for the creation and implementation of strategies best able to meet the needs and wants of a particular sport's target market by capitalizing on the unique attributes consumers/fans associate with a given sport (Pan & Baker, 1999).

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the attributes consumers associate with niche sports. Further, this study intended to determine the relationship between these attributes and spectator support of niche sports and compare them against attributes associated with mainstream sports. To help guide these purposes, two research questions were developed. Which attributes predict spectator support for various niche sports? How is support for niche sports different from support for mainstream sports? A better understanding of these characteristics will assist niche sport marketers to differentiate their sport product from competing sport products. Understanding which aspects of their respective sports should be emphasized to reach consumers will allow niche sport marketers to better position their sport property among the more well-established properties like the NFL, MLB, and NBA.

Review of Literature

A significant amount of research has been devoted to investigating various economic, social-psychological, and audience preference factors related to spectator attendance. However, much of this research has been devoted to individual teams or markets rather than sports or sport properties. For example, variables such as community size (Ferreira & Bravo, 2007; Pan, Zhu, Gabert, & Brown, 1999; Robinson & DeSchriver, 2003), competing entertainment options (Armstrong, 1999; DeSchriver & Jensen, 2002), facility characteristics (Roy, 2008; Wakefield & Sloan, 1995), team winning percentage (Davis, 2009; Wells, Southall, & Peng, 2000), ticket price (Donihue, Findlay, & Newberry, 2008), and promotional support (Gifis & Sommers, 2006) have all been correlated with variations in attendance between teams within a specific league or sport. While this research is useful in predicting attendance for specific teams, it does little to predict what attracts spectators to one sport over another.

It is important for marketers to understand what makes their sport product unique and how they can differentiate their product from other sports. Differentiation is especially important for properties marketing to a smaller segment, or niche, which have to differentiate their product to appeal to the specific needs of a limited market (Dalgic & Leeuw, 1994). Considering many niche sport properties have met their demise due to the intensely competitive atmosphere surrounding professional sports, niche sports would be wise not to market themselves head-to-head against mainstream sport properties. Hence, a better understanding of the ways in which fans differentiate niche sport products versus mainstream sport products may help to even the playing field.

Previous research has identified a number of differences between sport products. Studies focusing on the motives of sport spectators have revealed that fans' motives vary based on a variety of factors. For example, Wann, Grieve, Zapalac, and Pease (2008) discovered divergent fan motives for individual sports opposed to team sports, aggressive sports compared to nonaggressive, and stylistic versus nonstylistic sports. Specifically, fans of individual sports (e.g., figure skating, gymnastics, golf, boxing, auto racing, tennis, and professional wrestling) indicated significantly higher aesthetic motivation for consumption than fans of team sports (e.g., professional football, college football, professional basketball, college basketball, and professional hockey). Conversely, the eustress (positive stress), self-esteem, group affiliation, entertainment, and family motivational scores were significantly higher for fans of team sports.

Women's sports have been found to attract fans based on the provision of role models, the perception of providing opportunity for women, and the provision of wholesome family entertainment at a reasonable cost (Funk, Ridinger, & Moorman, 2003). Women's intercollegiate hockey and basketball have been found to be significantly different than men's hockey and basketball with respect to popularity, degree of physical contact, game attractiveness, free offerings and promotions, game entertainment, pre-game and in-game entertainment, convenience and accessibility, facility, cost, and communality (Ferreira & Armstrong, 2004). Fans of intercollegiate sports have also been found to associate different attributes with a variety of sport products. Fans associated similar attributes to major sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball) but not other intercollegiate sports (Pan & Baker, 1999).

In terms of professional sports, Hansen and Gauthier (1989) found that marketing managers within six professional North American leagues (i.e., NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, Minor League Baseball, and Major Indoor Soccer League) placed disparate levels of importance on a variety of product attributes (e.g., facility cleanliness, ticket price, and game atmosphere). Most interestingly, the NFL was reported to be statistically significantly different from at least one other league on all attribute categories. Looking at minor league sport properties, Greenwell, Lee, and Naeger (2007) found spectators of minor league baseball and the Arena Football League (AFL) identified qualities related to the sport were considered to be key attributes more often than product extensions such as promotions and in-game entertainment. These findings imply fans of niche sports may be attracted to the sport first, and the other peripheral amenities later, indicating a need to better understand what it is about these niche sports that is attractive to spectators.

In sum, numerous researchers have identified attributes differentiating a variety of sport products. Distinct product attributes have been identified as means of sport product differentiation when comparing intercollegiate sport products (Ferreira & Armstrong, 2004; Pan & Baker, 1999), women's sport products (Funk et al., 2003), and professional sport properties (Hansen & Gauthier, 1989; Greenwell et al., 2007). While many sport products have been compared and contrasted based on a variety of product attributes and fan motives, little is known about the attributes consumers use to differentiate between mainstream and niche sport products.

Niche Sports

The term "niche" has been used within business literature to distinguish smaller consumer product markets and companies from their larger, more mature counterparts (Dean, Brown, & Bamford, 1998). Examples of successful niche companies can be found within a variety of consumer products industries. For instance, the soft drink industry is dominated by multinational powerhouses Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, yet manufacturers like Jones Soda Co. have created a $200 to $300 million premium soft drink niche market by offering uniquely flavored products to consumers looking beyond traditional cola offerings (Gabriel, 1997). Similarly, independent film studio Lions Gate targeted African-American moviegoers with movies featuring actor Tyler Perry. By identifying and addressing the needs of their target market, Lions Gate has realized revenues in excess of $113 million (Gimble, 2006).

While the term niche can be readily applied to consumer products, defining niche sports products proves to be a much more difficult task. The main reason for this is that not all niche sports are the same. One could easily make the case that sports such as rowing, billiards, and table tennis qualify as niche sports. The schism begins to blur, however, when sports such as golf, tennis, and soccer are considered. Clearly, a golf tournament such as the Reno-Tahoe Open would not be considered mainstream, but what about the majors? The PGA Championship attracts a large audience and receives media coverage comparable to MLB and the NBA. The same can be said about tennis. Even soccer, whose popularity in the US pales in comparison to other countries around the world, morphs into one of the most popular sports once every four years during the World Cup. It appears, then, that spectator sports exist on a vast continuum of popularity ranging from extremely unique (i.e., synchronized swimming) to ubiquitous (i.e., NFL).

In light of this difficulty, some have attempted to classify sports into mainstream and niche categories. For example, Miloch and Lambrecht (2006) used the term "grassroots sports" to describe "sports that are not mainstream and do not appeal to a mass audience. Participants and supporters of these sports usually represent a niche demographic or a subsegment of sport consumers" (p. 147). Perhaps acknowledging the lack of uniformity among these niche sports, Rosner and Shropshire (2004) illustrated that niche sports could fall into different categories. Rosner and Shropshire (2004) identified four categories of niche sports. The first category includes minor league sports not representing elite levels of competition, such as Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and the National Basketball Development League (NBDL). The second category is emerging sports representing the top level of competition in their sport but not receiving the same level of media coverage or spectatorship as mainstream sports enjoy. Examples of sport products included in this category are MLS, AVP, and PBR. Indoor alternatives to traditionally outdoor sports such as the AFL, the National Lacrosse League (NLL), and the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) represent Rosner and Shropshire's third categorization of niche sports. The final category is gender specific leagues, which include the WNBA and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). While these categories are not necessarily exhaustive or mutually exclusive, they do provide guidance in identifying the diversity and variety of niche sport products within the US.

Although the literature has demonstrated some differences between mainstream and niche sport products (e.g., Ferriera & Armstrong, 2004; Funk et al., 2003; Hansen & Gauthier, 1989; Miloch & Lambrecht, 2006; Pan & Baker, 1999; Wann et al., 2008), little is known about the attributes consumers use to differentiate niche from mainstream sport products, as well as how those attributes affect spectator support. These results clearly indicate a gap in the examination of attributes that consumers associate with niche sports. Considering this gap in the literature, the purpose of this study is to identify the attributes consumers use to distinguish between mainstream and niche sports. Further, this study seeks to determine the relationship between these attributes and spectator support of niche sports.

Method

The first step in the process was to identify relevant attributes that may differentiate niche sport from mainstream sport. Four attributes were identified from the existing literature: accessibility (Hansen & Gauthier, 1989; Zhang, Pease, Smith, Lee, Lam, & Jambor, 1997), popularity (Ferreira & Armstrong, 2004), affordability (Funk, Mahony, & Ridinger, 2002), and star power (Braunstein & Zhang, 2005; Gladden & Funk, 2002).

To identify additional attributes, data were collected from a group of 51 undergraduate students enrolled in the sport administration program at an urban, Midwestern university. Students were selected from three sections of an entry-level sport administration course. Sport administration students were chosen specifically due to their increased interest in sport and knowledge of different sport offerings, both mainstream and niche. Each subject was asked three open-ended questions related to niche sports: identify a sport outside the mainstream, list the attributes you like about the sport, and identify what differentiates this sport from mainstream sports. Many other studies have used similar techniques of soliciting unaided responses rather than using or relying solely upon preformed questions (e.g., Bilyeu & Wann, 2002; Ferreira & Armstrong, 2004; Greenwell et al., 2007). In doing so, the researchers hoped to capture salient attributes otherwise missing from prior literature. To identify common themes, responses were independently analyzed by four judges to identify common themes. This effort yielded three additional attributes: player similarities, player skill, and uniqueness.

A four-item measure of spectator support adapted from Funk et al. (2002) was used as the outcome variable: "I watch, listen, or read about this sport often," "I have been a fan of this sport for a long time," "I am knowledgeable about the rules of this sport," and "I am interested in this sport." While prior studies have focused solely on attributes that predict attendance, attendance may not always be an appropriate measure to assess what attracts consumers to niche sports. Specifically, niche sporting events may be held in a variety of locations where fans may have difficulty attending (e.g., touring events such as cycling, which do not have an established "home course"). Instead, fans of such sports may rely more heavily on alternative outlets to watch live sporting events or highlights as well as keep abreast of the news about the participants and upcoming activities. This is consistent with a plethora of research which has expanded definitions of consumption to include watching sports on television (Armstrong, 2002; Bennett, Sagas, & Dees, 2006; Fink, Trail, & Anderson, 2002; Kim, Greenwell, Andrew, Lee, & Mahony, 2008; Mehus, 2005; Pritchard & Funk, 2006), reading newspapers and magazines (Armstrong, 2002; Fink et al., 2002; Kim et al., 2008; Pritchard & Funk, 2006), listening to the radio (Pritchard & Funk, 2006), and searching for sports-related content on the Internet (Hur, Ko, & Valacich, 2007; Kim et al., 2006). Thus, the spectator support measure adapted from Funk et al. (2002) appears to be a more appropriate measure of consumption for niche sports.

A questionnaire was utilized to collect information about how each attribute related to five different sports --four niche sports and one mainstream sport. Selected sports reflected the most common responses reported in each of Rosner and Shropshire's four categories during part one of the study to ensure that a variety of niche sports were represented and the sports chosen were familiar to the majority of respondents. The categories identified by Rosner and Shropshire (2004) were used to ensure that a mix of niche sports were included within the study. The four niche sports mentioned most by respondents in the first part of the study and subsequently chosen for analysis were MiLB, WNBA, AFL, and MLS. The mainstream sport was the NFL.

Surveys were administered to undergraduate students enrolled in general physical activity classes, within a large Midwestern university. Classes included basketball, volleyball, weight-lifting, fitness walking, racquetball, and indoor soccer. Students enrolled in more than one activity class were only permitted to complete the survey once. Activity classes were specifically targeted as they provide a variety of students from both an academic major perspective as well as a class level (freshmen --senior). The use of a variety of activity classes representing both mainstream and niche sport was a strategic choice of the researchers in an effort to capture a sample of individuals with divergent tastes.

Participants rated their level of agreement (1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree) for each of the 28 items representing the seven attributes, and rated their level of agreement with the four items representing spectator support. This was repeated for each of the five sports (four niche and one mainstream).

An exploratory factor analysis was used to establish the reliability of the constructs. To identify which attributes most strongly predicted spectator support, this variable was regressed on each of the seven attribute factors for each of the five different sports (four niche and one mainstream).

Results

Subjects for this study were 215 undergraduate students enrolled in physical activity classes at an urban Midwestern university. The sample was largely Caucasian (75.2%). African Americans represented an additional 19.4% of participants, Asians 3.2%, Hispanics 1.1%, and 1.1% indicated other. One participant declined to indicate their ethnicity. Additionally, 70.1% of respondents were male. In terms of age, 80.7% of participants were under the age of 24. Finally, respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they considered themselves to be a sport fan. Responses were reported on a seven-point Likert response format with anchors of 1 (not at all) and 7 (fanatic). Most of those responding (85.7%) indicated a high degree of sport fandom (those indicating a 5 or greater).

A response rate of 100% was attained as the 215 surveys distributed were returned. However, only 197 of the collected surveys were deemed usable for analysis. Eighteen of the responses were deemed unusable due to missing data or respondents selecting the same response for every item.

This sample was considered adequate for two reasons. First, the sample size of 197 met Tinsley and Tinsley's (1987) criteria for a stable factor structure. Second, Stevens (2002) suggested at least 15 subjects per predictor for purposes of statistical power and reliability. This study had seven predictors, and exceeded the 120 subjects required for statistical power and reliability. Yet, the findings of the current study should be interpreted with some degree of caution as this is an exploratory study utilizing a sample of college students from a single institution.

Following an exploratory factor analysis, the uniqueness factor was converted into a three-item measure as one item failed to load significantly on the construct. Additionally, two popularity items failed to load significantly on any construct, thus popularity was converted into a two-item measure. With these changes, the instrument demonstrated acceptable inter-item reliability with all factors within each of the sport products producing a Cronbach's Alpha ranging between 0.66 and 0.94 (Garson, 2010), (see Table 1). According to Garson (2010) a Cronbach's Alpha of .60 is considered acceptable in exploratory research.

For each sport, spectator support was regressed on the seven attributes in order to determine which attributes predicted spectator support for that sport. For MiLB, the attributes collectively accounted for 50% of the variance in spectator support ([R.sup.2] = .504, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .486, F(7, 189) = 24.46, p < .001), with accessibility ([beta] = .184, p = .026) and affordability ([beta] = .386, p <.001) emerging as significant predictors of spectator support. For the WNBA, the seven attributes accounted for 42% of the variance in spectator support ([R.sup.2] = .424, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .403, F(7, 189) = 19.86, p < .001), as accessibility ([beta] = .279, p < .001) and player similarity ([beta] = .323, p < .001) emerged as significant predictors of spectator support. For the AFL, the seven attributes combined to account for 39% of the variance in spectator support ([R.sup.2] = .391, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .368, F(7, 189) = 17.31, p < .001). Accessibility ([beta] = .298, p < .001), affordability ([beta] = .196, p = .006), and player similarity ([beta] = .351, p < .001) were identified as significant predictors of spectator support within the AFL. For MLS, the seven attributes accounted for 50% of the variance in spectator support ([R.sup.2] = .501, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .483, F(7, 189) = 27.33, p < .001), with accessibility ([beta] = .427, p < .001), popularity ([beta] = .156, p = .008), uniqueness ([beta] = .156, p = .016), affordability ([beta] = .148, p = .036), and player similarity ([beta] = .196, p = .003) all surfacing as significant predictors. Finally, the seven attributes accounted for 49% of the variance in spectator support for the NFL ([R.sup.2] = .488, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .469, F (7, 189) = 25.75, p < .001). Accessibility ([beta] = .371, p < .001), popularity ([beta] = .148, p = .008), and player skill ([beta] = .279, p < .001) all significantly contributed to the prediction of spectator support. Regression results are found in Table 2. Table 3 provides a summary of means for each construct.

As shown in Table 2, several attributes were significant predictors of niche sports only, while others appeared to significantly predict spectator support of the mainstream sport. Only one attribute, accessibility, was found to be a significant predictor of all four niche sports (p = .026 - p <.001, [beta] = .184 - [beta] = .427) as well as the mainstream sport (p < .001, [beta] = .371). Popularity was a significant predictor of spectator support for both MLS (p = .008, [beta] = .156) and the NFL (p = .008, [beta] = .148). The attributes of affordability and player similarities provided the most noticeable differences between the niche and mainstream sport products. Affordability was a significant predictor of spectator support for MiLB (p < .001, [beta] = .386), AFL (p = .006, [beta] = .196), and MLS (p = .036, [beta] = .148) but was not found to be a significant predictor of spectator support for the NFL (p = .649, [beta] = .030). Likewise, player similarities was found to be a significant predictor of spectator support for the WNBA (p < .001, [beta] = .323), AFL (p < .001, [beta] = .351), and MLS (p = .003, [beta] = .196) but not the NFL (p = .403, [beta] = .053). The only attribute found to be predictive of spectator support for the mainstream sport (NFL) but none of the niche sports was player skill (p < .001, [beta] = .279). Player skill was found to be the second-greatest predictor of spectator support for the NFL, trailing only behind accessibility.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to identify the attributes respondents use to distinguish between mainstream and niche sports and determine which of these attributes are predictive of spectator support. Niche sport marketers, or at least those still operating, realize they cannot compete against mainstream sports head-to-head and have to find a way to differentiate their product from mainstream sports products like the NFL and MLB (Newman, Grainger, & Andrews, 2003). This strategy has already been employed by the NLL, as evidenced through the comments of NLL Commissioner George Daniel when he stated "we've already positioned ourselves as a lower-cost form of entertainment" (Tedesco, 2009, p. 23). Mainstream sports have much larger operations budgets, receive significantly more media attention, and are often viewed as the pinnacle of the sporting world. However, niche sports can provide fans with an experience not currently supplied by many mainstream sport properties. Niche sport marketers who can focus on promoting these unique attributes will be more successful in attracting and retaining fans. For example, the NLL mandates that all players must attend an informal post-game reception at a local restaurant (usually a sponsor of the team) after all home and away games. Fans are also encouraged, via the public address system at the game, to attend the post-game reception and interact with the players (Livingstone, 2009). The following section discusses the attributes most likely to predict spectator support and differentiate niche sport properties from mainstream sport properties.

Accessibility, the relative ease in which fans can watch, listen to, or gather information about a sport property, was found to be an important predictor for all sports, whether mainstream or niche. This is a key factor in explaining differing levels of spectator support as mainstream sports are typically televised more, highlighted more on television news and other major media, and discussed more on popular websites. Niche sports, on the other hand, receive far less attention from mainstream media. This was evidenced in the results as respondents felt the NFL was much more accessible (M = 6.47) than any of the niche sports (M = 3.67 - 4.13). Therefore, the challenge for niche sport marketers is to identify alternative means to reach potential customers. Considering changes in technology and the emergence of new media, it appears that niche sports would be well-served to utilize these tools to make their sports more accessible to more people.

Additionally, the Internet has revolutionized the dissemination of sport information, allowing fans 24/7 access to their favorite sport teams, leagues, or players. This, coupled with the amplified use of Twitter and Facebook by many athletes and teams, both mainstream and niche, has created a sporting environment where fans rarely have to search very hard for information regarding their favorite sports entities. Therefore, as technology continues to evolve, it has become increasingly more important for all sports organizations to keep fans up-to-date on the team's latest happenings via news releases, press conferences, and through more innovative methods such as status updates and text alerts. With respect to the findings of the current study, niche sport properties looking to increase their level of spectator support may be well served in using social media outlets to make their product more accessible.

While accessibility was important for all sports included in this study, affordability and player similarities only predicted spectator support for niche sports. Respondents viewed MiLB, AFL, and MLS as economical alternatives to mainstream sports. Spectators attending these events are able to purchase tickets at a far discounted rate compared to most major league sports. Fans attending niche sports often benefit from game promotions such as $1 beer and hotdog nights, themed nights ranging from the Altoona Curve's (MiLB team) "Awful Night" to "Kids Run the Bases" offered by the Louisville Bats (MiLB team), and other value-based activities catering to families. Niche sport organizations often emphasize the importance of providing a "bigger bang for the buck" to their fans (Tedesco, 2009). The results of the current investigation suggest that an even greater need exists for niche sports to promote the value of their product as a cost-effective alternative to other sporting or general entertainment options.

Player similarity was also found to be a significant predictor for niche sport support. This factor measured the extent to which respondents believed athletes within a given sport were like themselves or people the spectator knows. When respondents indicated the athletes of a particular sport were perceived as similar to themselves, they were more likely to support the sport. According to the results, respondents were more likely to relate to athletes of niche sports, which often lack the celebrity status of more mainstream athletes. Results of the current study indicated that respondents felt, not surprisingly, that athletes within niche sports were more like everyday people than unreachable celebrities. This perceived similarity can be enhanced by emphasizing player accessibility for niche sports. Niche sport properties like the WNBA, AFL, NLL, and MLS provide numerous opportunities for spectators to interact with their athletes such as allowing fans to come onto the field and having players sign autographs after the game. For instance, it is not uncommon for players from competing NLL teams to all be present at the post-game party hosted at a local restaurant or bar, interacting with fans and representing their sport off the field (Livingstone, 2009). In many cases players are required to attend as part of their contract and these post-game parties are promoted on the public address system throughout the game. Many NCAA women's basketball teams allow fans to come down to courtside following the game to meet the athletes. All niche sports should pay heed to the importance of this attribute and the simplistic ways in which they can really foster a positive relationship between their fans and the players. Rather than glorifying their athletes, teams may want to highlight the real-life, human aspects of their players and provide fans with opportunities to interact with them, getting to know players for who they really are as opposed to what fans may see on television or on the field.

Conversely, different attributes tended to predict spectator support for the mainstream sport in this study, the NFL. Primarily, player skill was related to spectator support for the NFL, but not for any of the niche sports. NFL athletes are often perceived to be the most skilled athletes in their sport, and arguably some of the most elite athletes in general. Results from this study suggest spectators tend to watch the sport to see the best athletes at their sport. This contrasts with the findings related to the niche sports, which suggest fans do not base their support on the skill of the players. Fans of niche sports may be focusing on aspects of the sport other than player skill. Therefore, a niche sport marketer would be much better served focusing their efforts on many of the other attributes discussed within this study. For example, the WNBA may be better served by focusing on their players' similarities to young female basketball players or perhaps the accessibility fans have to the players, rather than promoting the high level of skill their players possess such as the case in their "Expect Great" campaign. This is not to degrade or take away from the level of WNBA players' skills. Simply, the respondents of this study demonstrated they might be more affected by focusing on other aspects the WNBA has to offer.

Similarly, popularity was an important predictor of spectator support for the NFL and MLS, but not for any of the other niche sports. Popularity measured the degree to which people are attracted to a sport property based on the way others feel about the sport property. The NFL is the most popular spectator sport in the US (Sport Business Research Network, 2010) and has a prominent position in the media (Amato, Peters, & Shao, 2005). This extensive coverage may lead to fans talking more about the sport and planning time to watch with family and friends. While MLS does not enjoy nearly as much popularity in the US, the sport in general tends to be recognized as the most popular sport in the world. Results from this study indicate that many spectators may be attracted to these two sports due to their perceived popularity. Both the NFL and MLS use these themes often in their marketing campaigns. For example, the NFL often trumpets the huge television ratings generated by the Super Bowl, and MLS often reminds fans they are watching the world's most popular game. Fans of niche sports, on the other hand, do not seem to care whether these sports are popular. Niche sport marketers would be advised to stay away from these themes as they most likely could not support their claims and, more importantly, their fans may not care whether their sport is popular. This finding is analogous to fans of independent film or independent music who may revel in the idea that what they like is not popular. Many fans of niche sports may be drawn to the sport specifically because it goes against the mainstream. These niche sports may create a clique in which fans feel as though they are a tighter knit group simply because "their sport" does not conform to the mainstream. Some may even go so far as to compare fans of niche sports to punk music fans who were looking for the alternative to popular "pop" music and would be offended if you considered them, or their music, to be mainstream. Niche sport marketers may be better served to feed into this mentality and boast their uniqueness when compared to the goliaths of the sport spectating world.

The results of this study illustrate which attributes respondents associated with niche sports and how respondents differentiated niche sport products from mainstream sport products. Further, results of this study identify attributes significantly predicting spectator support for niche sports. From a theoretical perspective, this study adds to the growing body of literature examining factors that influence sport consumption and provides insight into the consumption of niche sport properties. From a practical perspective, this study gives niche sport marketers insight into which attributes respondents perceived to be important. Practitioners can use these results to understand which attributes of their product are relevant to some of their consumers, which attributes differentiate their product from mainstream competitors, and which attributes to highlight when creating marketing strategies to reach consumers.

The current study was not without its limitations. First, the sample for the current study was limited to college students within one Midwestern university. Also, more than three-quarters of the sample was under the age of 24. This number may not reflect the actual age demographic of the sport properties included in this study. However, this particular population was important because, not only does this demographic have substantial buying power over a long period, they seem to have a shifting interest towards niche sports (Bennett, Segas, & Dees, 2006; Kojima, 2010). Also, as spectators age they become more set in their ways and less susceptible to engage in a new or unique sport viewing experience. Yet, in order to gain a more representative perspective of sports fans within the US, a more heterogeneous sample should be used in future studies. Therefore, findings of the current study must not be generalized too liberally as the sample was limited to a population of college students at a single institution. Second, there exists a wide range of niche and mainstream sports beyond the five discussed here. While this study attempted to identify attribute differences between niche and mainstream sport products, future research should examine the attributes predictive of spectator support for other niche sport properties in order to determine if certain attributes are consistent across the majority of niche sport products. In order to gain a better understanding of the attributes that differentiate niche from mainstream sports, a comparison across other mainstream sport properties such as MLB, the NBA, or even the NHL, should also be examined. Third, differentiating between niche and mainstream sports is very subjective in nature without any clear guidance from past research. Further, the distinction between niche and mainstream sports is not absolute. Rather, sports tend to fall on a continuum with each sport experiencing different degrees of popularity. This point is evidenced in this study where MLS had some of the characteristics of a niche sport as well as mainstream sport. Therefore, future studies may want to investigate more sports across a wider spectrum.

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Greg Greenhalgh, PhD, is an instructor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. His research interests include marketing of niche sport, sport sponsorship, and effects of social media on sport.

Jason M. Simmons PhD, is an instructor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. His research interests include fan-family conflict and effect of social media on sport.

Marion Hambrick, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. His research interests include sport product innovation and information dissemination, and effects of social media on sport.

T. Christopher Greenwell, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. His research interests include customer service and customer satisfaction.

Table 1.
Scale Items and Construct Reliabilities

 Sport
Attribute MiLB WNBA AFL MLS NFL

Spectator Support .884 .776 .854 .929 .940
 I watch, listen, or read about
 this sport often.
 I have been a fan of this sport
 for a long time.
 I am knowledgeable about the
 rules of this sport.
 I am interested in this sport.
Accessibility .748 .787 .704 .766 .738
 I can easily find information
 about this sport.
 This sport can easily be accessed
 via television or the internet.
 There are lots of opportunities
 for me to watch this sport.
 It is very easy for me to watch
 this sport.
Popularity .817 .801 .752 .806 .708
 I watch this sport because people
 are always talking about it.
 I like this sport because my
 friends/family do.
Uniqueness .749 .718 .672 .741 .773
 This sport is unique.
 This sport is different than
 other sports.
 Not many other sports are like
 this one.
Affordability .738 .701 .659 .703 .764
 This sport is great entertainment
 for the price.
 This sport is affordable
 entertainment.
 People are interested in this
 sport because it is an
 entertaining event for
 a reasonable price.
 It is affordable to be a fan
 of this sport.
Star Power .849 .796 .674 .767 .789
 This sport has recognizable
 athletes.
 This sport has star athletes.
 Players in this sport are
 celebrities.
 I hear a lot about athletes
 in this sport.
Player Skill .821 .836 .790 .858 .818
 Athletes in this sport are
 experts at what they do.
 These players are the best
 at their sport.
 Players in this sport have
 superior skills.
 Players in this sport are
 the best athletes.
Player Similarities .739 .693 .682 .723 .750
 These players are much like
 the people I know.
 Players in this sport are a
 lot like me.
 Athletes in this sport share
 my values.
 I can relate to the athletes
 in this sport.

Table 2.
Summary of Regression Analyses for Variables Predicting Spectator
Support for Selected Niche Sports and the NFL (N = 197)

Variable [R.sup.2] B SE B [beta]] t P

MiLB 0.504 .026 *
 Accessibility .213 .095 .184 2.24
 Popularity .055 .082 .047 .670 .504
 Uniqueness .152 .079 .131 1.92 .055
 Affordability .600 .115 .386 5.23 .000 **
 Star Power .053 .095 .049 .557 .578
 Player Skill .001 .087 .001 -.043 .966
 Player Similarity .161 .086 .116 1.87 .067
WNBA 0.424
 Accessibility .265 .074 .279 3.57 .000 **
 Popularity -.018 .067 -.016 -.266 .790
 Uniqueness .078 .066 .082 1.17 .240
 Affordability .143 .086 .125 1.67 .096
 Star Power .071 .082 .075 .876 .382
 Player Skill -.062 .073 -.067 -.850 .397
 Player Similarity .368 .081 .323 4.55 .000 **
AFL 0.391
 Accessibility .336 .081 .298 4.13 .000 **
 Popularity .112 .074 .101 1.50 .135
 Uniqueness .087 .073 .083 1.19 .233
 Affordability .270 .096 .196 2.80 .006 **
 Star Power -.105 .103 -.083 -1.02 .308
 Player Skill -.111 .078 -.099 -1.42 .158
 Player Similarity .452 .086 .351 5.23 .000 **
MLS 0.501
 Accessibility .595 .108 .427 5.49 .000 **
 Popularity .185 .069 .156 2.68 .008 **
 Uniqueness .208 .086 .156 2.43 .016 **
 Affordability .256 .121 .148 2.12 .036 *
 Star Power -.111 .115 -.078 -.966 .335
 Player Skill -.099 .094 -.070 -1.05 .296
 Player Similarity .299 .099 .196 3.02 .003 **
NFL 0.488
 Accessibility .724 .148 .371 4.88 .000 **
 Popularity .126 .047 .148 2.68 .008 **
 Uniqueness .063 .068 .058 .926 .356
 Affordability .036 .079 .030 .456 .649
 Star Power .030 .140 .016 .213 .832
 Player Skill .452 .117 .279 3.87 .000 **
 Player Similarity .060 .071 .053 .838 .403

Note. * p < .05. ** p < .01

Table 3.
Comparison of Means

Construct Sport
 MiLB WNBA AFL

 Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Support 3.44 1.77 3.08 1.39 2.81 1.45
Accessibility 4.13 1.53 3.96 1.46 3.67 1.29
Popularity 2.59 1.51 2.22 1.28 2.40 1.32
Uniqueness 3.81 1.53 3.79 1.45 4.60 1.39
Affordability 4.26 1.14 4.22 1.22 4.51 1.05
Star Power 3.55 1.63 3.91 1.45 2.98 1.15
Player Skill 4.16 1.47 4.84 1.50 4.16 1.31
Player Similarity 3.83 1.28 3.39 1.22 3.46 1.13

Construct
 MLS NFL

 Mean SD Mean SD

Support 2.81 1.45 5.82 1.63
Accessibility 3.67 1.29 6.47 0.84
Popularity 2.40 1.32 4.39 1.93
Uniqueness 4.38 1.44 4.96 1.53
Affordability 4.51 1.05 4.66 1.38
Star Power 2.98 1.15 6.44 0.87
Player Skill 4.16 1.31 6.22 1.01
Player Similarity 3.46 1.13 4.01 1.46