Determinants of Spectator Attendance at Historically Black Colleges' and Universities' Football Games

Spectator attendance is a popular topic in the sport management literature. However, the primary focus of work done in this area has been examining professional sports, with collegiate sports lagging far behind. The impetus behind the focus on spectator attendance in collegiate sports is the potential impact it can have on increasing revenue in athletic programs. However, there still is a lack of research in the area of sport management with regards to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine selected determinants in explaining the variation in spectator attendance at selected NCAA HBCU's football games. Forty-seven NCAA Division I-AA and Division II institutions participated in this study. The data was collected using the Spectator Attendance Survey (DeSchriver, 1996) and the home institution's individual football game boxscores. An economic demand model served as the basis for the study. The data were analyzed using regression and correlation analyses. The most interesting finding in this study was that 30.6% of the variance (F(4,216) = 23.82, p <.05) in spectator attendance at HBCUs football games was accounted for by the following determinants: over six home games, homecoming games, promotional activities, and general admission prices. Winning percentage did not appear to be an important factor. The results of this study imply that special promotions are a significant factor in spectator attendance, yet few special promotions were found. Athletic administrators of these institutions should re-evaluate their marketing practices in order to attract spectators and to incorporate timely promotions to draw more spectators from the general public