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Sport video games (SVGs) are a highly consumed media source among 18- to 34-yr-old sport consumers. Many corporations have become advertisers or sponsors of SVGs to reach this consumer segment. This case study examined the systematic relationships among SVG motives, consumption levels, and sponsorship effectiveness. Research participants (N = 213) were SVG gamers who responded to a survey. The proposed hierarchical relationships were tested in a structural model analysis to determine the effectiveness of SVGs. The fit indices showed that the model fit the data well, indicating that, sequentially, SVG motivations influenced game play frequency, awareness of sponsoring brands in SVGs, attitude toward the sponsoring brands, and future purchase intentions of sponsoring products. Researchers and practitioners may consider applying SVG motivational factors to enhance SVG play frequency so as to enhance the awareness of and attitude toward sponsoring brands, which would in turn promote behavioral intentions for consuming the sponsoring brands.

This study examined the differential effectiveness of television commercials, athlete endorsements, venue signage, and combined promotions as assessed by Generation Y consumers. A 2 × 4 independent-group experimental design was conducted, consisting of two experimental conditions (experimental and control) and four video footage interventions with different promotional procedures (television commercial, athlete endorsement, venue signage, and combined promotion). A total of 253 subjects were randomly assigned into the eight groups. The subjects responded to a questionnaire that measured brand awareness in terms of unaided recall, aided recall, and recognition. A factorial MANCOVA revealed that after controlling for differences in the consumption backgrounds of action sports among the subjects, all four promotional procedures effectively increased brand awareness during a televised action sports event. Television commercials were the most effective, followed by combined promotion, athlete endorsement, and venue signage.

Although there is growing awareness of the relationship between hosting mega-sporting-events and destination image, there is little empirical evidence documenting what images people hold before an event. The purpose of this study was to investigate the images young Americans hold of China both as a tourist destination and as the host of the 2008 Olympic Games. Specifically, the relationships among destination image, travel intentions, and tourist characteristics were explored. A total of 350 college students were surveyed before the close of the Athens Olympic Games. Overall, the respondents perceived China and the Beijing Olympic Games positively. Destination image was significantly (p < .05) predictive of the intention to travel to China and the Olympic Games. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that destination image partially mediated the relationship between past international travel experience and intention to travel. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed with a view to promoting China as a tourist destination and the host of the Olympic Games.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) utilizes a unique pay-per-view (PPV) product distribution structure, and relies heavily on social media to promote its events. Yet, no research has examined how UFC fans’ social media motivation influences their consumption. Using uses and gratifications theory and a mixed-method design, this study qualitatively explored the themes of UFC fans’ social media motivations and identified five themes (i.e., information, convenience, social interaction, entertainment, and economic). Based on these themes, this study developed the Scale of Social Media Motivation through quantitative analyses and further investigated how Scale of Social Media Motivation factors would affect consumption behavior by incorporating fan identification as a mediator. The findings revealed that the factors were positively associated with purchase intentions when fan identification serves as a partial mediator. Discussions are focused on utilizing the social media motivation factors and nurturing fan identification to promote UFC consumption.

This study assessed the relationship between broadcasting and the attendance of minor league hockey games in terms of 5 media forms: cable television broadcasting, commercial television broadcasting, radio broadcasting, broadcasters, and overall broadcasting media. A random sample of spectators (N = 2,225) responded to a survey on attendance level and media use conducted in the arena during the intermissions of games from 6 second-half 1994-1995 season home games of an International Hockey League (ML) team. CM-square, f-test, and regression analyses revealed that viewing home games on cable television and away games on commercial television, listening to games on radio, and the quality of television and cable broadcasters were all positively associated with attendance, with approximately 6-11% game attendance variance explained. It is concluded that the current broadcasting arrangement is positively related to game attendance in providing information for and increasing the interests of spectators.

Four decades have passed since the publication of Perspectives on the Academic Discipline of Physical Education: A Tribute to G. Lawrence Rarick—an edited text that offered a comprehensive overview of the field at the time. Missing, however, was any discussion of sport management. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to overview sport management and the development of the field since the publication of Brooks’s edited text. The authors summarize events in the field, including those related to educational advances and professional societies. Next, they highlight theoretical advances and then review the research in the field over time. In doing so, they categorize the scholarship into three groups: Young Field, Enduring Questions, and Emerging Trends. The authors conclude by identifying advances in the field and how sport management has emerged as a distinctive, robust discipline.

Sport video games (SVGs) are a popular form of sport media and sponsorship, and advertising in SVGs is increasingly common. This study assessed the effectiveness of SVG in-game advertisements in 3 consumption domains: cognitive, affective, and conative. An experimental study was designed with 89 gamers randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) experimental, playing an SVG with advertisements, or (b) control, playing an SVG without advertisements. Consumption background and identification level were incorporated as covariates to ensure group equivalence. Participants responded to a questionnaire measuring brand awareness, brand attitude, and purchase intentions. MANCOVA revealed that after controlling for the effect of covariate variables, the experimental group had a significantly (p < .05) greater mean brand-awareness score than the control group. Mean brand-attitude and purchase-intention scores were not significantly (p > .05) different between groups. The findings indicated that SVG in-game advertising was effective in creating awareness.

Higher ACL injury rates have been recorded in cleats with higher torsional resistance in American football, which warrants better understanding of shoe/stud-dependent joint kinetics. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in knee and ankle kinetics during single-leg land cuts and 180° cuts on synthetic infilled turf while wearing 3 types of shoes. Fourteen recreational football players performed single-leg land cuts and 180° cuts in nonstudded running shoes (RS) and in football shoes with natural (NTS) and synthetic turf studs (STS). Knee and ankle kinetic variables were analyzed with a 3 × 2 (shoe × movement) repeated-measures ANOVA (P < .05). A significant shoe-by-movement interaction was found in loading response peak knee adduction moments, with NTS producing smaller moments compared with both STS and RS only in 180° cuts. Reduced peak negative plantar flexor powers were also found in NTS compared with STS. The single-leg land cut produced greater loading response and push-off peak knee extensor moments, as well as peak negative and positive extensor and plantar flexor powers, but smaller loading peak knee adduction moments and push-off peak ankle eversion moments than 180° cuts. Overall, the STS and 180° cuts resulted in greater frontal plane knee loading and should be monitored for possible increased ACL injury risks.

Building on schema theory, the current study highlighted the role of brand-event personality fit (BEPF) in sport-event sponsorship communications and empirically examined its impact on sponsors’ consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) in the setting of American college football. Three studies were conducted to refine a sound measurement scale of BEPF and examine the structural relationships between BEPF and CBBE. Research findings confirmed the validity and reliability of the proposed BEPF measurement scale and revealed a series of positive relationships between crucial subdimensions of BEPF (i.e., responsibility fit, emotionality fit, and aggressiveness fit) and CBBE (i.e., brand awareness/association, perceived value, and brand loyalty). The findings offer brand managers specific references as to which aspects of BEPF should be prioritized in their promotional communications to build CBBE. Event marketers could also use the findings to communicate with corporations regarding potential or continued sponsorship agreements.