Spectator Experience Essay

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In the last few decades there has been an increasing interest in identifying the factors that motivate individuals to attend live sports event. Specifically, researchers have been interested in factors that directly influence spectator experience at stadium. Many dominating factors and measurements have been documented in the sports marketing literature. For example, prior research indicates that team/fandom affiliation, sports type, team performance, level of rivalry, sports involvement and presence of star players all play an important role in consumption of live sports event (Van Leeuwen, Quick & Daniel, 2002; Dionisio, Leal & Moutinho, 2008; Wann, Grieve, Zapalac & Pease, 2008; Choi, Martin, Park & Yoh, 2009; Ngan, Prendergast & Tsang, 2011). One factor that has been of particular importance entails the atmosphere in a sports stadium. Uhrich & Koenigstorfer (2009, p. 326) describe stadium atmosphere as a “pivotal value creating element” that emotionalizes and motivates spectators to attend sport events. The atmosphere at stadium makes up for a large component of the spectator experience. Over the past two decades, a number of researchers have documented the significance of stadium atmosphere in live sport attendance (Wakefield, Blodgett & Sloan, 1996; Kelley & Turley, 2001; Hightower, Brady & Baker, 2002; Shonk & Chelladurai, 2008; Uhrich & Koenigstorfer, 2009; Uhrich & Benkenstein, 2010; Pedersen, Kiil & Kjær, 2011). These studies show that the atmosphere at a stadium directly contributes to spectators’ pleasure and determines his/her approach or avoidance behavior. It affects the spectators’ desire to watch the game at stadium (Westerbeek, 2000), intentions to return to stadium in future (Larson & Steinman, 2009) and willingness to recommend to others (Theodorakis, Tsigilis & Alexandris, 2009). Despite the interest it has aroused though, a conceptualization
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