Spectator motives: why do we watch when our favorite team is not playing?

Fink, Janet S. ; Parker, Heidi M.

Spectator Motives: Why Do We Watch When Our Favorite Team Is Not Playing?

In the United States, sport spectators spend nearly $11 billion annually attending sporting events (Howard & DeSchriver, 2005). However, given the proliferation of sports broadcasting in recent years, spectatorship is no longer limited to only those who attend games. In fact, according to Neilson ratings, the National Football League (NFL) now offers America's favorite television programming (Heistand, 2006). Indeed, this growth has prompted researchers to examine spectator motives of sport fans (e.g., James & Ridinger, 2002; Robinson & Trail, 2005; Trail, Anderson, & Fink, 2000) as determining and understanding spectator motives allows sport marketers to develop advertising which targets specific motives in an attempt to connect with fans and spectators (Madrigal, 2000; Robinson & Trail, 2005).

Much of the previous research has concentrated on assessing sport fan motives to better understand what factors influence spectator choices (e.g., James & Ridinger, 2002; Trail, Fink, & Anderson, 2003; Robinson & Trail, 2005). However, the majority of this research has centered on spectators viewing games in which their favorite team is playing, leaving out the significant number of individuals who watch games even when their favorite team is not playing. For example, in 2008, 97.5 million viewers tuned into SuperBowl XLII, and it was the third consecutive year the SuperBowl exceeded the 90 million mark (Sandomir, 2008). When Brett Farve and Minnesota Vikings played the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football on October 5, 2009, it was the most watched cable telecast in the history of television (Crupi, 2009). In the 2008 season, Fox's Sunday national game was the most watched weekly program on television (GroundReport, 2009). Further, NFL viewership on weekly broadcast television was 61% higher for NFL games than average primetime viewership for the four major networks (i.e., ABC, NBC, FOX, & CBS) (Molori, 2006). Such viewership is not limited to males as 45 million women also tune in to watch NFL games each weekend (Fussel, 2007).

Indeed, for a sport league to truly flourish, people must be enticed to consistently watch games which do not feature their favorite team. Knowing how motives for watching one's favorite team differ from the motives for watching other teams would be incredibly useful to sport marketers and league managers. For example, if marketers could determine the motives that drive viewership when spectators' favorite teams are not involved, they could emphasize those motives in advertisements of non-regional games. Further, such information could be used to develop sponsorship leveraging tactics that span across regions. Thus, the purpose of this research was to assess the motives of spectators when they watch a game in which their favorite team is not involved and compare those to when they watch a game involving their favorite team. Additionally, given the past work relative to the differences in motives among male and female fans (James & Ridinger, 2002; Wann, 1995), we sought to determine if there were any differences due to sex of the spectator in these analyses.

Background literature and hypotheses

Sloan (1989) suggested that sport spectator motives fulfill social or psychological needs and that watching sports provides pleasurable characteristics that are reinforcing to the spectator. Sloan (1989) contended that nearly all motives for watching sporting events would fall under one of the following theories: achievement seeking, stress and stimulation, catharsis and aggression, salubrious effects, and entertainment. Sloan (1989) referenced a variety of studies relative to fans' moods in response to game outcomes and fans' attributions and concluded that achievement seeking theories provided the greatest explanation of differences in these reactions.

More recently, sport marketers and managers have become interested in assessing sport spectator motives to further delineate the psychographic profiles of fans (McDonald, Milne, & Hong, 2002). Using the initial work by Sloan (1989), Trail and James (2001) developed the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC), which measures nine motives for sport consumption: achievement, aesthetics, acquisition of knowledge, drama, escape, family, physical skills, social interaction, and physical attractiveness. A variety of studies related to sport fan motivation have used these motives to better understand sport spectators (e.g., James & Ridinger, 2002; Trail et al., 2003; Robinson & Trail, 2005). Accurate profiles of fan motives can help marketers develop more attractive promotional and advertising material (Robinson & Trail, 2005) as well as allow those marketing their products through sport to capture and utilize these motives to connect with fans. In essence, the motives of fans have become one more variable that can be manipulated to more precisely target a fan base.

In fact, several current research efforts have been undertaken to ascertain how sport fans' motives may differ by sport. For example, James and Ridinger (2002) found that fans of women's basketball were more highly motivated by the aesthetic quality of the game than those who were fans of men's basketball. Wenner and Gantz (1989) were the first to study how motives differ by entirely different sports. In an assessment of television viewers, they determined that fans who liked to watch basketball were more "psyched up" (experienced greater eustress) than those who liked to watch other sports. Wann, Schrader, and Wilson (1999) categorized favorite sports as either team or individual and aggressive or non-aggressive. They found that that nearly all fan motives differed relative to these categories of sports.

McDonald et al. (2002) were the first to conduct a direct examination of different motives across nine different sports and found that spectator motives did, indeed, differ by sport. In fact, there were significant differences in nine of the eleven motives. The only motives not to differ by sport were social facilitation, self-esteem, and competition.

Most recently, Wann, Grieve, Zapalac, and Pease (2008) examined differences in motives across 13 different sports. In the analysis, they compared sports, but they also grouped sports into categories of team/individual, aggressive/non-aggressive, and stylistic/non-stylistic. Results showed that motives differed not only by sport, but also by sport categories. For example, the aesthetic motive was more important for individual sports, while the motives of eustress, self-esteem, family, group affiliation, and entertainment were more important for team sports. Similarly, for aggressive sports (e.g., football), the highest-rated motives were economic, eustress, group affiliation, and entertainment while aesthetics was most important for the non-aggressive sports (e.g., baseball, figure skating). Additionally, the aesthetic motive was most prominent for stylistic sports (e.g., gymnastics) while economic, eustress, self-esteem, group affiliation, entertainment, and family motives were most prominent for non-stylistic sports (e.g., hockey).

Thus, it appears that Sloan's (1988) early contentions are true; sport spectators fulfill psychological motives by watching sport. Further, the motives fulfilled seem to differ by sport; that is, certain sports (or sport types) are associated with the satisfaction of certain motives while not associated with others. Given that spectators fulfill different psychological or social motives by watching different sports, it stands to reason that motives for watching a game in which one's favorite team is playing would differ substantially from watching a game in which one's favorite team is not involved. That is, some motives should be more relevant when watching one's favorite team (e.g., achievement), but less relevant when watching games featuring other teams. Alternatively, spectators may hope to fulfill other motives to a greater extent when watching games not featuring their favorite teams (e.g., drama or social motives). This leads to the first research question: How do participant motives differ between games featuring participants' favorite teams and games featuring other teams?

The motives of female sport fans have also been given considerable interest. This is not surprising considering the growth of sport spectatorship among women. For example, half of NASCAR fans are women and 42% of attendees of MLB games are female (Johnson, 2006). The NFL has 50 million avid fans and 30% of those are women. In fact, in Kansas City, home to the NFL's Chiefs, 48% of season ticket holders are women (Fussel, 2007). Thus, knowing the motives of female sport fans/spectators and if (and how) they differ from males allows sport marketers to better target these fans.

However, the results of studies into the differences in motives of male and female sport spectators/fans are rather ambiguous. For example, Wann et al. (1999) found that males had higher scores on eustress, escape, self-esteem, and aesthetics while females were more motivated by family motives. Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, and Jacquemotte (2000) also found that females were more likely to be sport fans for social reasons (i.e., spend time with family and friends). However, James and Ridinger (2002) found that men scored higher on the family motive, as well as achievement, aesthetics, knowledge, and empathy. Robinson and Trail (2005) found only one difference between males and females, females scored higher on the knowledge motive than men.

Perhaps these conflicting outcomes are the results of different measurement tools, or the measurement of different fans (e.g., basketball versus football), but it seems apparent gender plays a role in differences in motives for spectating sport. As Robinson and Trail (2005, p. 59) suggest, these gender differences, "... would imply, for example, that either males and females have innately different motives, or that society implicitly or explicitly teaches males and females to have different motives." This leads to the second and third research questions: Do participant spectator motives differ by gender? And, do these gender differences appear regardless of game type (favorite team playing, favorite team not playing)?

Method

Procedures and participants

To answer the research questions, 150 students enrolled in sport, fitness, and health general education lecture courses at a large Midwestern institution were asked to complete a short demographic questionnaire and the MSSC scale (Trail & James, 2001). First, participants were asked to complete the scale relative to their motives for watching their favorite NFL team. Later, they were asked to complete the scale again, but this time relative to their motives for watching NFL games when their favorite team was not involved. Thus, we could compare their motives across the different game situations.

A total of 142 surveys were returned. A majority of the participants were White (96%). Further, the average age was 20 (SD = 2.7), but ranged from 19 to 36. Seventy-three percent of the respondents were male while 27% were female.

Measures

The MSSC is a Likert-type scale that measures 9 different motives (achievement, aesthetics, drama, escape, family, knowledge, physical attractiveness, physical skill, social) and each motive is measured by three items (Trail & James, 2001). An example item is: "The athletic skills of the players are something that I appreciate". In the first application, participants were asked to complete the MSSC relative to when they watch their favorite NFL team play. In the second application, the directions were changed and participants were asked to complete the MSSC relative to when they watch NFL games in which their favorite team was not featured.

The MSSC demonstrated good reliability in both situations. The Cronbach's alphas scores ranged from .84 to .91 for each of the motives in each condition (please refer to Table 1 for a list of the motives and the alpha scores derived in each application).

Analyses

We incorporated a 2 x 2 repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to answer the research questions. The within group variable was type of game (favorite NFL team playing, favorite NFL team not playing) and the between group variable was gender of the participant (male, female). The dependent variables were the scores on the 9 motives. Due to the unequal cell sizes (i.e., more males than females), a Box's M test was conducted. It was not significant, thus the homogeneity of variance-covariance matrices was confirmed and the MANOVA could be conducted (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2006).

Results

The overall model was significant (F (9,106) = 834.35, p < .001). Further, the game-type main effect was significant (F(9,106) = 10.67, p < .001, [[eta].sup.2] = .48) as was the gender main effect, (F(9,106) = 15.31, p < .001, [[eta].sup.2] =.57). The gender X game-type interaction was not significant, (F(9,106) = 1.81, p = .07).

Follow-up univariate tests revealed significant differences due to game-type in the motives of achievement, t = 92.18, p < .001 skill, t = 11.47, p < .001; and knowledge, t = 19.45, p < .001. Mean scores for the motives of achievement (M = 5.34 versus M = 3.94) physical skill (M = 5.82 versus M = 5.40), and knowledge (M = 4.55 versus M = 4.07) were higher for those watching their favorite NFL teams. Please refer to Table 2 for a comparison of all of the mean scores on motives by game type. As can be seen from Table 2, the top motives respondents gave for watching their favorite team play were drama (M = 6.02), physical skill (M = 5.82), and social (M = 5.58). Interestingly, while the mean scores were slightly lower, these were the same top motives for watching an NFL game when one's favorite team was not involved: drama (M = 5.90), physical skill (M = 5.40), and social (M = 5.39). Only the physical skill motive had a statistically significantly lower score.

Follow-up univariate tests also revealed significant gender differences in motive scores for drama, t = 9.30, p < .003; aesthetics, t = 17.97, p < .001; skill, t = 18.95, p < .000; knowledge, t = 32.68, p < .001; family, t = 7.63, p < .007; and physical attractiveness, t = 44.16, p < .001. Women scored significantly higher than men on the family and physical attractiveness motive, while men scored significantly higher drama, aesthetics, skill, and knowledge. Please refer to Table 3 for a comparison of all of the mean scores on motives by gender. The highest-ranked motives for men were drama (M = 6.21), physical skill (M = 5.98), and social (M = 5.44), and the same was true for women: drama (M = 5.71), social (M = 5.53), and physical skill (M = 5.25).

Discussion

Determining the strongest motives for sport spectator viewing habits is essential for targeted marketing and programming strategies (Robinson & Trail, 2005; Trail & James, 2001). Knowing the top motives for viewer-ship and how these may differ significantly between demographic segments provides those marketing sport, and those marketing products through sport, with an added element to devise the most persuasive message possible for a given market.

Interestingly, the top two scored motives for watching NFL games across game type and gender, drama and appreciation of physical skills, were the same as the top two in other studies using the MSSC (Fink et al., 2002; Trail et al., 2003; Robinson et al., 2005) in different sport contexts. Thus, while it is true that people fulfill a variety of different psychological motives by watching sports (Sloan, 1989), there is growing evidence that the drama and appreciation of physical skill motives may be most ubiquitous across sports. This does not seem surprising as it may be that the two motives work in tandem to fulfill needs. That is, while many people may be entertained by drama, they could choose to find that drama fulfillment in different ways such as watching movies, going to a theme park, etc. However, people who choose sport to fulfill their drama needs obviously would also be motivated by the physical skill of the participants--without such skill, there would be much less drama.

Given that drama is the top-ranked motive across game type and gender, it is not surprising that the NFL is currently American's favorite sport (Hill, 2008). Many speculate that the NFL is so successful because the league structure provides so much parity (Hill, 2008; Lopresti, 2007). Given the hard salary cap of the NFL, the talent level among teams is typically quite similar. Thus, on any given week, every NFL team (and its fans) feels it has a chance for victory. Parity creates drama through close games and uncertainty of outcome. Additionally, the league structure also plays a role in the second-highest ranked motive, appreciation of physical skill. To stay under the salary cap, NFL teams cannot "hoard" talent, thus, great players are interspersed on teams throughout the league. As a result, the NFL also creates a system in which most fans can look forward to the physical skills of the players on their teams.

While appreciation of physical skill was the second-highest motive across game type, its mean score was significantly higher when watching a game featuring one's favorite team. In fact, of the significant differences in motives by game type (i.e., achievement, appreciation of physical skills, and knowledge), all three were higher when watching one's favorite team play. This is not surprising. We suspect that these differences are most likely driven by team identification. When one has higher levels of identification with a team, he/she is more likely to experience greater vicarious achievement (e.g., bask in reflected glory) through his/her relationship with the team (Madrigal, 1995; Murrell & Dietz, 1992; Wann & Branscombe, 1990). Additionally, fans higher in identification tend to attend or watch more games (Matsuoka, Chelladurai, & Harada, 2003) and read more literature relative to their team (Wann & Branscombe, 1993), which explains the higher score for the knowledge motive. Further, fans high in identification exhibit biased attribution processing favoring their team (Wann & Dolan, 1994). Thus, they may feel the players on their team are superior to those on other teams and exhibit greater physical skill.

The results indicated there were more significant differences in motives due to gender than game type. Men scored higher on the motives of drama, appreciation of physical skill, aesthetics, and knowledge, while women scored higher on family and physical attractiveness. Thus, our results were similar to others such as Wann et al. (1999) and Deitz Uhler et al. (2000) in that women rated the family motive higher. However, while our results were similar to James and Ridinger's (2002) in terms of men scoring higher on achievement, aesthetics, and knowledge motives, the men in their study scored higher than women in the family motive. Consequently, the ambiguity surrounding differences between men and women's motives for sport consumption remains.

Robinson et al. (2005) noted that most other studies of fans demonstrate that demographics (such as gender) have very little impact on motive scores. However, gender explained 57% of the variance in motives scores in our study. Gender explained the most variance in knowledge (22%) and physical attraction (39%). The NFL appears to be aware of the knowledge finding as they have offered "NFL 101, NFL Workshop for Women" for nine years with more than 10,000 women attending in 2007 (Fussel, 2007). The disparity in the physical attractiveness motive between men and women is interesting but not surprising. One might expect women, more readily than men, to admit they find male football players physically attractive as such an admission by women does not violate existing social and gender norms. Nonetheless, this motive had the next to lowest mean score among women, indicating that it might not be incredibly important in creating increased viewership for the NFL. However, studies should further examine this motive in sports where athlete attractiveness is more visible than in the NFL, where athletes wear pants, long socks, and helmets.

Implications

Several implications can be derived from this study. First, for those marketing the NFL and marketing products through the NFL, the results suggest the most successful strategies should highlight the drama of the game, the physical skills of the players, and the social activities surrounding the games. For example, FedEx sponsors a weekly promotion in which viewers can vote for the "FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Week" (NFL.com, 2008), which appears to tap into the physical skills motive. Similarly, Burger King inserts their "King" mascot into actual football plays so it appears he is making the spectacular football plays rather than the players themselves. Additionally, ESPN's Monday Night Football advertisement campaign which highlights the drudgery of a typical Monday workday giving way to the excitement of watching Monday Night Football encompasses aspects of the drama, escape, and social motives. It may seem commonsensical to create advertisements with such connections, yet clearly many advertisements, marketing campaigns, promotions, and sponsorships often fail to incorporate the important aspects of the fans/viewers' experiences with the league into their campaigns.

Our results suggest that the NFL can market its national (or non-regional) and regional games similarly as drama and social motives were important for watching any game. However, activating spectators' identification (e.g., highlighting rivalries, showcasing highly identified fans, providing opportunities to bask in reflected glory or BIRG) would be an important aspect of the marketing of fans' favorite teams as they were much higher on the achievement motive when watching their favorite team play.

While the NFL has done well to engage a number of female fans in their Football 101 workshops, women in our sample still scored significantly lower than men on knowledge, physical skill, aesthetics, and drama motives. Interestingly, drama was rated as the highest motive by women, just as the men, yet their mean score was significantly lower. Similarly, physical skill was the third-highest ranked motive by women, yet ranked significantly lower than the men's score on this motive. These findings suggest that while women are driven to watch the NFL by these motives, they are not as fully "captured" by them as the men in the sample. Thus, the NFL may need to structure additional and/or different efforts aimed to increase females' appreciation of these motives. Women also had a higher mean score for the family motive and it was relatively high (M = 5.08), thus, the NFL needs to ensure the NFL continues to be a product in which the entire family can engage.

Limitations and suggestions for future research

The results of this study are not generalizable beyond the respondents as we utilized a non-probability sample of college students. While this sample indicated a substantial level of involvement with the NFL, we don't know if they would be similar to all NFL fans. Thus, future studies should attempt to survey fans/spectators attending games, or fans/spectators watching games at particular gathering places (e.g., sports bars).

This is the first study to compare the motives of people who watch a game with and without their favorite team involved. It would be interesting to see if other leagues/sports revealed similar patterns or if there may be substantial differences. Many factors could play into creating differences such as league structure, number of games in a season, and the presence of "super" star players (e.g., Kobe Bryant, LeBron James).

Additionally, the current research did not specifically inquire about fan/spectator attachment points. Previous research has reported that individuals high in identification (fans) have different attachments to a game/team than those lower in identification (spectators) (Trail, Robinson, & Gillentine, 2003). Fans were attached to the team, coach, community, university, and players while spectators were attached to the level and sport. Future research should examine how attachments may differ when sport fans/spectators are watching their favorite team as compared to when they are watching when their favorite team is not playing.

Finally, future research comparing motives of fans and spectators should also take into consideration the prevalence of sport gambling and fantasy sports. The growth of these two pastimes may potentially influence viewership behaviors, particularly with regard to watching a game when your favorite team is not involved.

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Janet S. Fink is an associate professor at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include diversity issues in sport and sport consumer behavior.

Heidi M. Parker is an assistant professor in the department of sport management at Syracuse University. Her research interests center on sport consumer behavior and gender issues in sport.

Table 1.

Cronbach's alphas of motives for each application of the MSSC

Motive Alpha--favorite Alpha--favorite
 team playing team not playing

Achievement .938 .922
Aesthetics .923 .927
Drama .911 .895
Escape .891 .878
Family .811 .769
Knowledge .826 .864
Physical Attractiveness .887 .942
Physical Skill .940 .937
Social .944 .959

Table 2.

Mean scores, standard deviations, and significant differences
in mean scores relative to each application of the MSSC.

Motive Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
 Favorite Team Playing Favorite Team Not Playing

Achievement *** 5.34 (.129) 3.94 (.139)

Aesthetics 4.92 (.120) 4.78 (.111)

Drama 6.02 (.111) 5.89 (.094)

Escape 5.13 (.132) 4.97 (.109)

Family 4.91 (.123) 4.70 (.115)

Knowledge *** 4.55 (.115) 4.07 (.126)

Physical 2.92 (.127) 2.99 (.133)
 Attractiveness

Physical Skill ** 5.82 (.110) 5.40 (.097)

Social 5.58 (.123) 5.39 (.109)

*** p < .001; ** p < .01

Table 3.

Mean scores, standard deviations, and significant differences
in mean scores relative sex of respondent.

Motive Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
 Men Women

Achievement 4.81 (.123) 4.46 (.118)
Aesthetics *** 5.28 (.111) 4.42 (.169)
Drama ** 6.02 (.111) 5.71 (.136)
Escape 5.21 (.114) 4.88 (.174)
Family ** 4.53 (.109) 5.08 (.116)
Knowledge *** 4.93 (.119) 3.70 (.180)
Physical
 Attractiveness *** 2.01 (.121) 3.91 (.185)
Physical Skill ** 5.98 (.091) 5.25 (.139)
Social 5.44 (.115) 5.53 (.175)

*** p < .001; ** p < .01