Mauricio Ferreira

A multilevel model analysis of professional soccer attendance in Chile 1990-2002

This study examined the determinants of attendance at the Chilean national soccer tournaments between 1990 and 2002. A multilevel model approach was taken to estimate the effects of several factors, including unobserved sources, hypothesised to influence attendance in Chile. Results regarding team success, team division, population, stadium size and habitual persistence were found to influence professional soccer attendance; other factors such as admission price, age of team, international success, availability of soccer teams in the same vicinity and stadium ownership did not.

Using a stated choice model to test the viability of new sport event ticket packages

In an increasingly revenue-driven intercollegiate athletic environment, athletic directors are often faced with the seemingly opposing objectives of creating revenue while simultaneously serving the often price sensitive needs of the student body. A stated discrete choice model is proposed to assist decision-making in ticketing strategy. In this experiment students were exposed to a series of 12 choice scenarios, which displayed ticket options with varying levels of desirable ticket attributes. This investigation was based on 420 students selected using a two-stage cluster sampling procedure from students enrolled in a physical education program at the university. The model was useful in assessing: 1) the degree of cannibalisation between ticket offerings; 2) the consumer targets more likely to be interested in new packages; 3) the monetary value that student consumers were willing to pay for a new package. The results may aid decision-making in the area of ticket packages and pricing.

Understanding senior sport participants’ choice of regional senior games using a preference map

The number of sport participants ages 55 and older is growing in developed countries throughout the world (Dionigi, 2006). An increase in discretionary time and money has led to similar patterns amongst older adults in the USA. Accompanying this growth in sport participation has been the proliferation of regional senior games associations. Increased competition has created the need for event managers to gain a better understanding of attributes that are attractive to this increasingly powerful sport participant segment. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify and examine evaluative criteria senior athletes used to select the regional senior games event(s) in which to participate. Of the 234 participants of the inaugural Brazos Valley Senior Games (BVSG), 104 (44%) athletes completed a questionnaire regarding their perceptions, preferences, and participation in senior games events. A multidimensional preference analysis of the BVSG and competing regional events revealed that factors related to convenience and quality of the events were the determinant attributes in participant decision making. Several qualitative comments supported this preference analysis. This study contributes to our understanding of event competition for an increasingly important, expanding segment of the sport industry – older sport participants.