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While existing research has predominantly focused on the positive relationships between service quality and outcome variables, there has been limited investigation into the influence of food service quality on these variables or the moderating role of stadium atmosphere in the realm of sports marketing. This study aims to fill these gaps by examining the structural relationships between baseball stadium food quality, timeliness, satisfaction, and behavioral intention with an emphasis on the moderating effect of stadium atmosphere.

The data were collected from spectators attending baseball games. This study established the validity of the measurement scale through confirmatory factor analysis, factor loadings, average variance extracted, and construct reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. In addition, this study employed structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation to examine positive relationships and mediating effects and used Jamovi statistical software to conduct moderation analysis.

The findings demonstrate the significant impacts of food quality on satisfaction and behavioral intention, the positive effects of timeliness on satisfaction and behavioral intention, and the notable influence of satisfaction on behavioral intention. Additionally, this study found that satisfaction partially mediates the aforementioned relationships and that stadium atmosphere moderates these pathways.

This study contributes to the literature by addressing the impact of food service quality on outcome variables within sports marketing, an area that has received limited attention. Specifically, it examines how food quality and timeliness influence consumer satisfaction and behavioral intention. Furthermore, the study highlights the moderating role of stadium atmosphere, demonstrating its potential to enhance the relationship between food quality and consumer outcomes. These findings expand our understanding of consumer behavior in sports settings, offering practical strategies for team officials to enhance fan experiences. By diversifying menu options, optimizing concession operations, and collaborating with local vendors, team officials can significantly improve food service quality and create a more engaging stadium atmosphere.

The study aims to provide a reference for market segmentation in a relatively new market. Esports consumer profiles are developed based on consumption motives, structural factors, game genres, interests, demographics and behavioral intentions. It delivers managerial advice for a growing esports market.

A quantitative approach using an online survey was implemented to identify homogenous groups. The study employed the Motivation Scale for Sports Consumption (MSSC) to investigate the consumption motives of esports consumers. A two-step market segmentation was conducted based on the motives, applying hierarchical clustering. Moreover, descriptor variables were used to create distinct esports consumer profiles.

This research divides the esports market into four clusters based on MSSC, which is new and relevant in a constantly changing environment. The clusters are named Low Intention Novices, Leisure Warriors, Socializing Learners and Dedicated Enthusiasts.

This adds to the limited literature on esports market segmentation and highlights the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

Sport events’ contribution to the destinations’ local economy implies in-depth knowledge of the economic benefits generated by non-resident spectators (NRS). Thus, this study aims to answer: What is the profile and shaping factors of the consumption patterns of the several types of NRS in international surf tourism events?

A total of 263 questionnaires applied to the NRS of an international surf event were collected and analysed. The identification of the NRS profile and the predictive factors of their total expenditure were performed through the correlation of factors and multiple linear regression, respectively.

Mostly, the event attracted generation Y NRS, with a high level of education and regular sport practice. The results showed differences among the NRS: the “casuals” included more women than men; the “extensioners” integrated the NRS whose surfing practice is higher; the “event visitors”/”time switchers” mostly integrated the domestic tourism flows; the “casuals” and “extensioners” spent the most at the destination, and those whose intention to recommend/revisit the destination, respectively, was higher; and the shaping factor that most influenced the increase in NRS expenditure was the overnight stay, added by older age, higher education level and foreign origin.

Regardless of the initial motivation that led to the trip to the destination, the results verified that the event’s attributes are capable of contributing to the recommendation/visitation of the destination. Consequently, the study of economic benefits (tangible and intangible) provided by sport events in destinations should be guided by an integrative analysis of NRS.

The increased importance of sports and athlete brands highlights the need for athletes to pay attention to branding as it has positive impacts. As athletes, Muslim women have not succeeded in building their brands. This study aims to understand the branding challenges facing Muslim female athletes and how to overcome them.

These branding obstacles and guidelines were explored using qualitative methods – specifically semi-structured interviews with Muslim female athletes and focus groups with experts. Data were analysed using open and axial coding to identify the codes.

The study identifies three major obstacles to branding by Muslim female athletes. Self-related obstacles, such as knowledge of brand building, social media, personal pressure and a lack of role models, impact the brand-building decision. Social-related (family and society) and sport-related obstacles (participation as women and as Muslims) further complicate this task. Experts provide additional insights regarding these obstacles, suggesting strategies to overcome them.

The research focuses on athletes from one geographical area and has limitations associated with using qualitative methods.

The study suggests how self-, social- and sport-related obstacles are faced by athletes. It provides suggestions for federations, sports codes and other stakeholders to support athletes to overcome these barriers.

This study expands the understanding of the struggles Muslim women face in building their brands as part of an under-represented group.

Over the past years, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have sparked growing interest in the sport industry. NFTs are unique digital assets verified using blockchain technology. Each NFT has a distinct identifier that sets it apart from other tokens, documenting its uniqueness and ownership. NFTs promise innovative growth opportunities by generating revenue via novel products such as digital collectibles which can be owned and traded on dedicated platforms. Despite this promising outlook, it currently seems unclear how sports NFTs should be designed and which features they should offer to align with consumer values, effectively meet their needs and ultimately drive Purchase Intention. This study will therefore attempt to answer the following research question: Which consumer values and consumer needs have a positive impact on PI of sports NFTs? Based on the results, the study seeks to offer advice on concrete characteristics sports NFTs should possess in order to foster mainstream adoption.

To address the current gap in the literature and provide an answer to the research question, this paper uses structural equation modelling exploring the impact of consumer values and consumer needs or wants on purchase intention regarding sports NFTs.

The results of this study indicate that social needs or wants (SNW) have the strongest impact on purchase intention, as well as on experiential and functional needs or wants. NFTs should therefore possess characteristics that foster community, interaction and connection with other team or athlete supporters while enhancing the overall consumer experience. Incorporating these elements into future NFTs can help sports organizations tap into the social SNW of consumers by providing opportunities for connection, interaction and collective experiences within supporter communities.

Due to the low response rate of Baby Boomers, the results of the study cannot be applied to this cohort. Additional research, potentially using physical in-stadium surveys and targeted specifically at the BB cohort may shed light on their particular values, needs or wants and impact on sports NFT purchase intention. Moreover, Generation Z respondents may statistically be underrepresented in the sample due to the fact that only respondents aged 18 and older were included in the study. Hence, the part of Generation Z, which was born after March 2006 and had not yet come of age at the time of this research, was explicitly excluded from the survey. Results should be applied carefully to the population of sports team or athlete supporters due to the method of data collection which was based on convenience sampling and may therefore not be representative. Since the survey was exclusively administered online, people with no Internet access are not represented in this research.

Sports organizations and marketers can leverage the strong impact of SNW identified in this study to position their NFT portfolio accordingly. Using athletes themselves or other influencers as product ambassadors may trigger purchase intention of consumers. Additionally, it is crucial that socializing agents, such as family, friends, colleagues and other team supporters with a strong influence on consumers own or promote NFTs. Marketers can support this adoption process by encouraging testimonials, reviews and user-generated content that showcase how NFTs have positively impacted others. Reaching a critical mass of adoption among supporters as a first step will ultimately impact consumers’ desire to satisfy ENW and FNW as well. Consumers may then recognize the benefits of using NFTs to enhance their overall consumer experience and to make their lives easier, for instance by using NFTs as season tickets or to collect loyalty points they can redeem later.

This study is the first attempt to determine the relationship between consumer values, consumers’ needs or wants and their impact on purchase intention regarding sports NFTs.

The impact of various factors on how TV sports audiences perceive sport event sponsors’ billboards around sports facilities has been the subject of extensive research. Despite numerous factors that impact the effectiveness of sponsor signage at sporting events, there has been a lack of research regarding the language used for such signage around sports facilities’ billboards. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of billboard advertisement language on TV sports audiences’ recognition, recall and search intention to sponsor signage.

This study employed an online experimental design. Participants (n = 925) were recruited from two linguistically different regions: Chinese and English. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: watching tennis video matches with billboard advertisements presented in either the Roman alphabet exclusively or in a combination of the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters.

This study revealed that although language cannot significantly impact audiences’ unaided recall of a brand, it does have a discernible effect on brand recognition and search intention among audiences. Additionally, people are more likely to search for brands in their native language. Participants from various regions tend to have different recognition rates and search intentions for sport sponsors.

This is the first manuscript examining the use of different languages in relation to audiences’ recognition and recall of sports sponsorship. It provides empirical evidence of the importance of carefully considering the language used in sponsor signage around stadium billboards to optimize the efficacy of sponsorships at sports events.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2015 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Cycling Championship in Richmond, Virginia.

An array of eclectic methods included in situ witness observations of several of the races, 21 semi-structured random interviews and multiple discussions with elements of UCI, the city of Richmond’s planners, residents and business owners during and after the championship in fall 2015.

This paper has uncovered five findings: First, the material investment was considerably smaller than that of other events (common good criterion CGC i – good governance); second, pre-planning was critical to successfully hosting the event; third, this event included not only two entities as one would expect at first glance, but many (common good criterion CGC ii – good management); fourth, a filière approach to community service and the exploitation of clustered thematic activities was of critical importance to successfully hosting the 2015 UCI Road World Cycling Championship; and fifth, this event enabled the opportunity to market other city and regional assets (common good criterion CGC iii – good outcomes).

Cities hoping to bid for events ought to consider hosting unique events such as road championships. Those cities will benefit from careful event pre-planning, responsible event hosting and post-event legacies in the form of socio-economic and mindscape memories.

Bidding and pre-event planning is increasingly seen as an opportunity to locate, create and develop support for common good urban projects, which will remain valuable after the event is over or which will need to be built in spite of the bid’s result.

This study fills an unresearched gap on the impact of events on a city’s future non-motorized sustainable transportation priorities.

The purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which source attractiveness and source credibility (or skill in a sporting context) provide an effective marketing strategy for Field Hockey in New Zealand, a minority sport Minority sports struggle to generate capital and have minimal sponsorship backing due to small participation and viewership rates compared to “major sports”. By understanding how source attractiveness and source credibility work in the context of a minority sport such as hockey, more effective advertising towards target audiences can be achieved. We also consider differences between advertising to players and no-players of the sport. This is the first research to consider these issues.

Four advertisements were created in an experimental design that manipulated the two variables: source credibility and source attractiveness, in an advertisement promoting Hockey. A survey was conducted, using an online questionnaire.

Results show that a mixture physical attractiveness and skill (credibility) increase attitudes towards the advertisement. This results in positive intentions to both watch and play hockey. When the respondents were segmented into hockey players and non-hockey players, only skill is effective for the Hockey Player segment, whereas both skill and attractiveness are effective for non-players.

Future research should include comparing hockey to further minority sports codes. Additionally, understanding if male models created the same effects would be particularly interesting for further research.

Management should focus on skill, with physical attractiveness being considered, but not as the most important attribute. If targeting hockey players, skill needs to be especially visible. Even though these elements could be argued to be within the “proverbial eye of the beholder”, the results have shown that in terms of sports advertising, it is possible to portray these two attributes in a generalised way.

This research to focuses on source credibility and attractiveness in a minority sporting context, in particular field hockey, whereas the majority of research considers major sporting codes. In addition, involvement with the sport is also considered.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of esports players based on their gaming behavior patterns across game genres and compare self-efficacy, social efficacy, loneliness and three dimensions of quality of life between these subgroups.

324 participants were recruited from prolific academic to complete an online survey. We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of esports players based on their behavioral patterns across genres. Additionally, a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to test the association between cluster memberships and development and well-being outcomes, controlling for age and gender as covariates.

LPA analysis identified five clusters (two single-genre gamer groups, two multigenre gamer groups and one all-genre gamer group). Univariate analyses indicated the significant effect of the clusters on social efficacy, psychological health and social health. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the salience of the physical enactment-plus-sport simulation genre group in these outcomes.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development and well-being benefits experienced by various esports consumers, as well as the role of specific gameplay in facilitating targeted outcomes among these consumer groups.

The purpose of this paper was (1) to examine the underexplored intersection of sports betting and favorite team loyalty, and (2) to assess differences in gambling behavior among sport bettors by varying levels of team loyalty.

A total of 1,555 National Football League (NFL) bettors and non-betting NFL fans were surveyed to assess media consumption across a mix of team loyalty attitudes and betting behaviors.

Statistically significant differences were found between four types of NFL fans (casual, team loyalty-dominant, betting-dominant and hybrid) as it relates to media consumption in various forms. Most notably, the results suggested symbiosis between the activities.

The symbiosis finding, though preliminary, suggests the activity provides an additional platform for consumers to connect with spectator sport. Furthermore, the act of betting, like participation in fantasy sports, appears to spur consumption of the NFL product generally. The study, however, was limited to NFL fans, did not specify the method for sports betting, nor the intensity of gambling.

Teams should not worry that betting detracts from fan engagement with the team product. Also, leagues and media providers should continue to highlight betting content as participants consume at higher rates than non-participating sports fans.

Team fandom may potentially moderate problem behavior among bettors. The betting results indicate being a loyal team fan lowers one’s gambling spend per month and largest bet compared to non-loyal bettors. However, the hybrid fan showed significantly higher media consumption levels.

Sports fans have more opportunities to interact and engage with their favorite games than ever before. However, consumers have limited amounts of time and money, and this study is one of the first to examine differences in fan interests and behaviors related to sport betting and team loyalty and the resulting viewership and consumption behavior.