What Makes Sport Spectating Family-Friendly? A Phenomenological Study of Mothers’ Sport Fan Game-Day Experiences

in Journal of Sport Management

Click name to view affiliation

Katherine SveinsonUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

Search for other papers by Katherine Sveinson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6934-5208*
and
Kim ToffolettiDeakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Search for other papers by Kim Toffoletti in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5672-9090
Restricted access

Sport organizations are developing family-friendly spectator initiatives to boost engagement and sales to parents and children. While the number of women sport fans continues to grow, research has yet to explore how women, as mothers and fans, experience fandom. Informed by a maternal geography framework, this study explores women’s understanding of what does or does not make game-day experiences family-friendly by presenting the accounts of 15 women from North America and Australia who are sport fans and mothers. Interpretive phenomenological analysis is utilized to investigate how mothering as a spatially informed care practice shapes the perspectives of what constitutes a family-friendly sport spectating experience. Findings identify key components of the physical, structural, and social environments of women’s experiences of family-friendly sport fandom, as well as exposing that what is presumed to be family-friendly is not the same as mother-friendly.

  • Collapse
  • Expand
  • American Academy of Pediatrics. (2021). Ages & stages. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/Pages/default.aspx

  • Baraitser, L. (2009). Maternal encounters: The ethics of interruption. Routledge.

  • Bevan, M. (2014). A method of phenomenological interviewing. Qualitative Health Research, 24(1), 136144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313519710

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Boyer, K. (2018). Spaces and politics of motherhood. Rowman and Littlefield.

  • Braunstein-Minkove, J.R., & Metz, J.L. (2019). Sport MOMsumers: A modern reexamination of the role that mothers play in their families’ professional sport consumption. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 11(3), 2135.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Crawford, G., & Gosling, V. (2004). The myth of the ‘puck bunny’: Female fans and men’s ice hockey. Sociology, 38(3), 477493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038504043214

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dietz, B., Bean, J., & Omaits, M. (2021). Gender differences in sport fans: A replication and extension. Journal of Sport Behavior, 44(2), 183198.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dunn, C. (2014). Female football fans: Community, identity and sexism. Palgrave.

  • Eatough, V., & Smith, J.A. (2017). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In C. Willig & W. Stainton Rogers (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology (pp. 193209). SAGE.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Fielding-Lloyd, B., Woodhouse, D., & Sequerra, R. (2020). More than just a game: Family and spectacle in marketing the England women’s super league. Soccer and Society, 21(2), 166179. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2018.1541799

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Grappendorf, H., Simmons, J., & Hancock, M. (2020). I will go to the game, while you stay home with the kids: Gender role expectations and sport fan-family conflict. Journal of Global Sport Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2020.1819652

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hall, J., & O’Mahony, B. (2006). An empirical analysis of gender differences in sports attendance motives. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, 7(4), 3921. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-07-04-2006-B008

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hyatt, C., Kerwin, S., Hoeber, L., & Sveinson, K. (2018). The reverse socialization of sport fans: How children impact their parents’ sport fandom. Journal of Sport Management, 32(6), 542554. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2017-0263

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • James, J., & Ridinger, L. (2002). Female and male sport fans: A comparison of sport consumption motives. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25(3), 260278.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Jeanes, R., Spaaij, R., Farquharson, K., McGrath, G., Magee, J., Lusher, D., & Gorman, S. (2021). Gender relations, gender equity, and community sports spaces. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 45(6), 545567. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723520962955

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Johnson, J., & Johnston, K. (2019). Maternal geographies: Mothering in and out of place. Demeter Press.

  • Jones, K. (2008). Female fandom: Identity, sexism and men’s professional football in England. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25(4), 516537. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.25.4.516

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Knijnik, J., & Spaaij, R. (2017). No harmony: Football fandom and everyday multiculturalism in Western Sydney. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 38(1), 3653. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2017.1265490

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Mansfield, A.C. (2020). Count the ways that it impacts your life: New parenthood and sport fandom. Journal of Sport Management, 34(5), 462474. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0285 10.1123/jsm.2019-0285

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Markula, P., & Silk, M. (2011). Qualitative research for physical culture. Palgrave.

  • Marotta, M. (2005). MotherSpace: Disciplining through the material and discursive. In S. Hardy & C. Wiedmer (Eds.), Motherhood and space: Configurations of the maternal through politics, home, and the body (pp. 1533). Palgrave Macmillan.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. University of Minnesota Press.

  • McDonald, H., Leckie, C., Karg, A., & Zubcevic-Basic, N. (2018). Female season ticket holders: How their satisfaction is derived differently from males. European Sport Management Quarterly, 18(2), 156174. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2017.1332668

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • McDowell, L., & Sharp, J. (1997). Space, gender, knowledge: Feminist readings. Routledge.

  • Myrdahl, T.K.M. (2009). Family-friendly without the double entendre: A spatial analysis of normative game spaces and lesbian fans. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 13(3), 291305. https://doi.org/10.1080/10894160902876713

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nicholson, M., Hoye, R., & Brown, K.M. (2014). Alcohol and community football in Australia. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49(3–4), 294310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690213497353

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Pope, S. (2017). The feminization of sports fandom. Routledge.

  • Richards, J., & Parry, K.D. (2020). Beers and blurred boundaries: The spatial and gendered organisation of pre-match venues for English football fans. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55(6), 647663. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690219835487

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Richards, J., Parry, K.D., & Gill, F. (2020). The guys love it when chicks ask for help: An exploration of female rugby league fans. Sport in Society, 25(5), 927944. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1809380

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Rosen, J.N., & Wetcher-Hendricks, D. (2013). Repression at the ballpark: Sport, socialization, and the birth of a new stadium etiquette. Theory in Action, 6(2), 87108. https://doi.org/10.3798/tia.1937-0237.13013

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Simmons, J., Grappendorf, H., & Hancock, M. (2020). How do sport fans cope with the consequences of fan-family conflict? Journal of Sport Behavior, 43(1), 120143.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Simmons, J., & Greenwell, T.C. (2014). Differences in fan-family conflict based on an individual’s level of identification with a team. Journal of Sport Behavior, 37(1), 94115.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Smith, J.A. (2011). Evaluating the contribution of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5(1), 927.

  • Smith, J.A., & Osborn, M. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J. Smith (Ed.) Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp. 5380). Sage.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sveinson, K., & Hoeber, L. (2015). Overlooking the obvious: An exploration of what it means to be a sport fan from a female perspective. Leisure Studies, 34(4), 405419. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2014.923496

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sveinson, K., & Hoeber, L. (2016). Female sport fans’ experiences of marginalization and empowerment. Journal of Sport Management, 30(1), 821. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2014-0221

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Team Marketing Report. (2022). FanCostIndex® — Team marketing report. https://teammarketing.com/fancostindex/

  • The Stadium Business. (2019). Marvel stadium opens new kids zone. https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/2019/08/15/marvel-stadium-opens-new-kids-zone/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Tinson, J., Sinclair, G., & Kolyperas, D. (2017). Sport fandom and parenthood. European Sport Management Quarterly, 17(3), 370391. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2017.1280068

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Toffoletti, K. (2017). Women sport fans: Identification, participation, representation. Routledge.

  • Wann, D. (1995). Preliminary validation of the sport fan motivation scale. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 19(4), 377396. https://doi.org/10.1177/019372395019004004

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1197 1197 146
Full Text Views 156 156 54
PDF Downloads 206 206 66