Unlocking the economic value of empty seats in South African stadia

Abstract

In a country known for its love of major sports such as cricket, football (soccer) and rugby, it seems counterintuitive that attendance at live sport events is declining. With high-performing international teams, star personalities, and beautiful sport venues, emptier sports stadia need investigation. This decline negatively affects sports revenues and has a depressive effect on microeconomies in and around sporting venues as well. This research sought to understand the South African sport consumers’ behaviour. It draws on insights from literature on sport consumer behaviour and related psychological fields. An understanding of the antecedent psychological drivers for behavioural intentions to attend live sport events was assessed, grounded by the theory of planned behaviour. A deductive research design employed a distributed survey that gathered 171 observations for analysis and used a multiple regression methodology, with weighted least squares transformations. The findings illustrate that sport consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control all positively influence their behavioural intentions to attend live sport events. The influence of digital media in creating a more competitive sport consumption category – a key insight for stakeholders looking to future-proof their sports marketing and event offerings was highlighted. This research contributes to literature in the fields of behavioural psychology, social science, sport management and sport marketing, among others. Further actionable recommendations to sports industry stakeholders are offered to derive broad-based business value.