Television Viewership of Out-of-Market Games in League Markets: Traditional Demand Shifters and Local Team Influence
in Journal of Sport ManagementClick name to view affiliation
This study uses consumer-theory modeling in exploring the broadcasts of games not featuring a local team. Our general linear mixed model controls for the variation in consumption attributable to traditionally employed determinants of demand and highlights factors related to home team loyalty. The study concludes that while traditional shifters are likewise useful in estimating demand for out-of-market games, fan allegiance to their local team plays a central role in the viewership of all games, even those in which the local team is not explicitly involved. The observation of compositional inheritance effects underscores the significance of local identification in league-wide interest, a phenomenon of growing importance with the ever-increasing availability of out-of-market games.
Scott Tainsky is with the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism and Mateusz Jasielec is with the Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL.
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