TY - JOUR
T1 - The "ideal" football experience in the context of a recently established professional league
AU - Duarte Alonso, Abel
AU - O'Shea, Michelle
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In the highly competitive professional sports industry, managers of a newly established competition face many challenges, including converting or gaining the allegiance of new groups of consumers (fans, spectators) to their colors. One critical aspect in the converting process relates to the ideal game-day experience as perceived by would-be consumers. Gaining knowledge about this area could be critical to professional sport marketers in enhancing the perceived quality of sport events. This study examines the ideal football experience among 1,412 fans of an Australian A-League football (soccer) club. The importance of a lively atmosphere, that of high turnouts of spectators and the opportunity to watch quality and attacking football are highlighted in most comments, even relegating the game's final score (winning) to a more marginal level of importance. Some of the implications of the findings for professional football marketers and avenues for future research are presented and discussed.
AB - In the highly competitive professional sports industry, managers of a newly established competition face many challenges, including converting or gaining the allegiance of new groups of consumers (fans, spectators) to their colors. One critical aspect in the converting process relates to the ideal game-day experience as perceived by would-be consumers. Gaining knowledge about this area could be critical to professional sport marketers in enhancing the perceived quality of sport events. This study examines the ideal football experience among 1,412 fans of an Australian A-League football (soccer) club. The importance of a lively atmosphere, that of high turnouts of spectators and the opportunity to watch quality and attacking football are highlighted in most comments, even relegating the game's final score (winning) to a more marginal level of importance. Some of the implications of the findings for professional football marketers and avenues for future research are presented and discussed.
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/534079
U2 - 10.1108/S1745-3542(2013)0000009005
DO - 10.1108/S1745-3542(2013)0000009005
M3 - Article
SN - 1745-3542
VL - 9
SP - 3
EP - 27
JO - Advances in Hospitality and Leisure
JF - Advances in Hospitality and Leisure
ER -