Professional Wrestling Fans: Your Next-Door Neighbors?

Abstract

Near Baghdad, in Mesopotamia, two bronze statues were discovered depicting two men engaged in a wrestling hold. This 5,000-year-old evidence suggests that wrestling is the oldest of sports. Today, wrestling is experiencing a wave of popularity like never before. Ted Turner's WCW and Cable Television-based WWF have created an entertainment genre popular as both sport and entertainment. These two groups, along with their usage of widespread cable television and pay-per-view opportunities have created a multimillion-dollar enterprise. The two entities boasted a combined income of over one billion dollars in 1998 (Bronson, 1999).

In marketing sport or entertainment the fan's perception of the event is very important. This study attempts to analyze wrestling fans and their perceptions of wrestling. Who are the people who make up this growing fan base? To what degree are these fans involved in and loyal to wrestling? What are their spending habits?

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