Daniel F. Mahony

Motivational Factors Influencing the Behaviour of J. League Spectators

The Japanese Professional Soccer League (J. League) began in 1993 and was the first professional soccer league in Japan. After an initial period of strong interest, spectator support for the League has declined. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop a means for measuring selected motives influencing the behaviour of J. League spectators. The second purpose was to then use the measurement scale to examine the impact of these motives on spectator behaviour. Seven motives for J. League spectators were identified in the current study (drama, vicarious achievement, aesthetics, team attachment, player attachment, sport attachment, and community pride), based on prior attempts to measure the motives of sport consumers (e.g., Madrigal & Howard, 1995; Wann, 1995), and an understanding of Japanese culture and J. League spectators. Items were generated to measure each of the seven motives. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scale based on a survey of J. League attendees indicated that seven factors extracted 57% of the variance and were suitable for further analysis. Additional analysis indicated the relative importance of the motives in predicting variance in length of time as a fan and frequency of attendance. Sport attachment predicted the most variance in length of time as a fan, while team attachment was the strongest predictor of frequency of attendance. These results have implications for sport practitioners seeking to improve their marketing efforts and for sport researchers seeking to better understand the motives of sport consumers.

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE An Examination of Participation Opportunities, Revenues, and Expenses at NCAA Institutions—1973-1993

Based on organizational justice research, Hums and Chelladurai surveyed college athletic personnel to determine which distributive justice principles these leaders believed were most fair. Their results indicated that the principles evaluated highest by all subgroups—National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) divisions, position, gender—were equality of treatment, need, and equality of results. The present study extended the work of Hums and Chelladurai and examined NCAA Revenue and Expense Reports for 1973-1993 to determine whether there was evidence to suggest that equality and need were the main principles affecting distributions. The authors also analyzed the impact of legislation and court decisions on distributions. Based on the analysis of the NCAA reports, distributions appear to be greatly affected by equity related to revenue production and spectator appeal.

Rule violations in intercollegiate athletics: A qualitative investigation utilizing an organizational justice framework

Cheating and rule violations in intercollegiate athletics continue to be relevant issues in many institutions of higher education because they reflect upon the integrity of the institutions in which they are housed, causing concern among many faculty members, administrators, and trustees. Although a great deal of research has documented the numerous rule violations in NCAA intercollegiate athletics, much of it has failed to combine sound theory with practical solutions. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible extensions of the organizational justice framework to the problem of rule violations in intercollegiate athletics. In doing so, the current study examined (a) perceived areas of injustice among coaches at NCAA Division I institutions, (b) avenues by which coaches resolve these injustices, and (c) potential solutions for resolving injustices in an attempt to reduce NCAA violations. Six NCAA Division I basketball coaches from various parts of the country (four from mens teams and two from womens teams) were interviewed using a semi-structured format. Despite the NCAAs efforts to create parity, results showed that coaches perceived several areas of inequities in recruiting, including financial resources and academic standards. The interviewed coaches described several means that are currently used to resolve these inequities and offered recommendations for changes to reduce injustice in the future.

The Impact of the National Sports Lottery and the FIFA World Cup on Attendance, Spectator Motives and J. League Marketing Strategies

This paper examines the impact of the national sports lottery (toto) in 2001 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup for the Japan Professional Soccer League - J. League. In 2001 J. League attendances grew dramatically and were sustained in subsequent years, even though member clubs did not change many of their marketing strategies and chose to maintain a distance from toto. The evidence suggests that hosting the World Cup allowed the league to leverage the countrys hosting of the event in order to generate long-term interest and attendance at J. League games. By contrast, toto appears to have had a short-term impact.