Overall attendance at bowl games has steadily decreased since 2010, meaning that institutions are often left with tickets they cannot sell. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the drivers of spectator attendance at college football bowl games through four competing econometric models. The full random-effects model included 41 explanatory variables, and was examined using both OLS and interval regression. A competing fixed-effects model is also presented. Finally, practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
BaadeR. A., BaumannR. W., & MathesonV. A. (2008). Assessing the economic impact of college football games on local economies. Journal of Sports Economics, 9, 628–643.
3.
BeckmanE. M., CaiW., EsrockR. M., & LemkeR. J. (2012). Explaining game-to-game ticket sales for Major League Baseball games over time. Journal of Sports Economics, 13, 536–553.
4.
BogaczykJ. (2012, January 5). Orange Bowl: Ticket sales lackluster for game. Charleston Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.com
5.
BowenH. R. (1980). The costs of higher education: How much do colleges and universities spend per student and how much should they spend?San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
6.
CoatesD., & DepkenC. A. (2011). Mega-events: Is Baylor football to Waco what the Super Bowl is to Houston?Journal of Sports Economics, 12, 599–620.
7.
CoatesD., & HumphreysB. R. (2007). Ticket prices, concessions and attendance at professional sporting events. International Journal of Sport Finance, 2, 161–170.
8.
CoffinD. A. (1996). If you built it, will they come? In FizelJ., GustafsenE., & HadleyL. (Eds.), Baseball economics: Current research (pp. 32–46). Westport, CT: Praeger.
9.
DepkenC. A., WilliamsC., & WilsonD. P. (2011). From the hardwood to the gridiron to the dorm: Influences on attendance to women's collegiate basketball. International Journal of Sport Finance, 6, 3–22.
10.
DeSchriverT. D. (1999). Factors affecting spectator attendance at NCAA Division II football contests. International Sports Journal, 3, 55–65.
11.
DeSchriverT. D. (2007). Much adieu about Freddy: Freddy Adu and attendance in Major League Soccer. Journal of Sport Management, 21, 438–451.
12.
DeSchriverT. D., & JensenP. E. (2002). Determinants of spectator attendance at NCAA Division II football contests. Journal of Sport Management, 16, 311–330.
13.
DoshK. (2013). Saturday millionaires: How winning football builds winning colleges. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing.
DunnavantK. (2014). The fifty-year seduction: How television manipulated college football, from the birth of the modern NCAA to the creation of the BCS.New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books.
GoffB. (2000). Effects of university athletics on the university: A review and extension of empirical assessment. Journal of Sport Management, 14, 85–104.
20.
GriffithD. A. (2010). An analytical perspective on sporting events attendance: The 2007-2008 US NCAA college bowl games. Applied Geography, 30, 203–209.
21.
GrozaM. D. (2010). NCAA conference realignment and football game day attendance. Managerial and Decision Economics, 31, 517–529.
HendryD. (2001). Econometrics: Alchemy or science?Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
24.
HumphreysB. R., & MondelloM. (2007). Intercollegiate athletic success and donations at NCAA Division I institutions. Journal of Sport Management, 21, 265–280.
25.
JewellR. T., & MolinaD. J. (2005). An evaluation of the relationship between Hispanics and Major League Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 6, 160–177.
26.
KaempferW. H., & PaceyP. L. (1986). Televising college football: The complementarity of attendance and viewing. Social Science Quarterly, 67, 176–185.
KrautmannA., & HadleyL. (2006). Demand issues: The product market for professional sports. In J. Fizel (Ed.), Handbook of sports economics research (pp. 175–189). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp.
29.
LeardB., & DoyleJ. M. (2011). The effect of home advantage, momentum, and fighting on winning in the National Hockey League. Journal of Sports Economics, 12, 538–560.
30.
LeonardJ. M. (2005). The geography of visitor attendance at college football games. Journal of Sport Behavior, 28, 231–252.
MawsonL. M., & BowlerW. T. (1989). Effects of the 1984 Supreme Court ruling on the television revenues of NCAA Division I football programs. Journal of Sport Management, 3, 79–89.
33.
McDonaldM., & RascherD. (2000). Does bat day make cents? The effect of promotions on the demand for Major League Baseball. Journal of Sport Management, 14, 8–27.
34.
McEvoyC. D. (2005). The relationship between dramatic changes in team performance and undergraduate admissions applications. The SMART Journal, 2, 17–24.
35.
McEvoyC. D., & MorseA. L. (2007). An investigation of the relationship between television broadcasting and attendance. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2, 222–235.
36.
McEvoyC. D., NagelM. S., DeSchriverT. D., & BrownM. T. (2005). Facility age and attendance in Major League Baseball. Sport Management Review, 8, 19–41.
37.
MongeonK., & WinfreeJ. (2012). Comparison of television and gate demand in the National Basketball Association. Sport Management Review, 15, 72–79.
38.
MorseA. L., ShapiroS. L., McEvoyC. D., & RascherD. A. (2008). The effects of roster turnover on demand in the National Basketball Association. International Journal of Sport Finance, 3, 8–18.
NollR. G. (1974). Attendance and price setting. In R. G. Noll (Ed.), Government and the sports business (pp. 115–157). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institute.
41.
PanD. W., & BakerJ. A. W. (2005). Factors, differential market effects, and marketing strategies in the renewal of season tickets for intercollegiate football games. Journal of Sport Behavior, 28, 351–377.
42.
PaulR. J., WeinbachA. P., & RobbinsD. (2013). American Hockey League attendance: A study of fan preferences for fighting, team performance, and promotions. International Journal of Sport Finance, 8, 21–38.
PriceD. I., & SenK. C. (2003). The demand for game day attendance in college football: An analysis of the 1997 Division 1-A season. Managerial and Decision Economics, 24, 35–46.
45.
RhoadsT. A., & GerkingS. (2000). Educational contributions, academic quality and athletic success. Contemporary Economic Policy, 18, 248–258.
SalagaS., & TainskyS. (2015). The effects of outcome uncertainty, scoring, and pregame expectations on Nielsen ratings for Bowl Championship Series games. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 439–459.
48.
SchofieldJ. A. (1983). Performance and attendance at professional team sports. Journal of Sport Behavior, 6, 196–206.
49.
ShackelfordD. E., & GreenwellT. C. (2005). Predicting women's Division I sports attendance: An analysis of institutional characteristics. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 14, 139–147.
StinsonJ. L., & HowardD. R. (2004). Scoreboards vs. mortarboards: Major donor behavior and intercollegiate athletics. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 13, 129–140.
54.
TainskyS., KerwinS., XuJ., & ZhouY. (2014). Will the real fans please remain seated? Gender and television ratings for pre-game and game broadcasts. Sport Management Review, 17, 190–204.
55.
TomaJ. D. (2003). Football U: Spectator sports in the life of the American university.Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
56.
TuckerI. B. (2005). Big-time pigskin success: Is there an advertising effect?Journal of Sports Economics, 6, 222–229.
57.
WellsD. E., SouthallR. M., & PengH. H. (2000). An analysis of factors related to attendance at Division II football games. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 9, 203–211.
58.
WinfreeJ. A., McCluskeyJ. J., MittlehammerR. C., & FortR. (2004). Location and attendance in Major League Baseball. Applied Economics, 36, 2117–2124.
