Understanding Season Ticket Holder Attendance Decisions

in Journal of Sport Management

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Adam Karg Swinburne University of Technology

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Jeremy Nguyen Swinburne University of Technology

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Heath McDonald RMIT University

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2020-0284
Keywords:
demand; professional teams; regression; revenue
First Published Online:
21 Apr 2021
In Print:
Volume 35: Issue 3
Page Range:
239–253
Restricted access

Predicting attendance at events is important for efficient facility management and marketing to maximize crowds. Most work to date is conducted at the aggregate level; however, the large crowd size being predicted often means important individual decisions are masked. In many markets, increased nonattendance by season ticket holders (STHs) is being reported, which is troubling given they have prepaid and are expected to be highly loyal. To understand who attends, rather than just how many, the authors analyze the “no-show” behavior of over 5,900 individual STH of one professional team over a season. Results show that in addition to game viewing and quality conditions, age, tenure, expenditure, and prior game attendance are predictors of individual attendance decisions, with differences in how individuals are influenced by winning and uncertainty of outcome. The paper expands understanding of drivers of STH attendance decisions and provides guidance toward managerial strategies for STH management.

Karg and Nguyen are with Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. McDonald is with RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Karg (akarg@swin.edu.au) is a corresponding author.
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