10-13-2021, 12:18 PM
The conclusion seems pretty logical as an expression of what drives moderate/casual fan interest. Diehard fans will watch or buy tickets either way, but if you like a sport or a team well enough but you're not crazy about it, what's going to get you to the stadium is the sense that you're buying a few hours of good entertainment, and close games are fun and exciting.
And yes, as a fan of my teams, I just want wins. But the article seems to be asking what gets folks to show up in the first place, and it makes plenty of sense that, on average, a perceived close, competitive game would put more butts in the seats than a game perceived as one-sided. For me, I live in Colorado but I didn't grow up here, so I'm not a fan of the local professional teams. If I'm going to buy tickets to an Avs/Nuggets/Rockies game, it's going to be for what I think will be a really good game or where there's some other special aspect about the game that will draw me in (e.g., my favorite team is in town, a really good team with lots of stars is coming to town and it's always exciting to watch the very best do their thing, or there's a milestone or something else historic in play).
And 82, that's a good point. I obviously love Stanford sports or I wouldn't be on this board, but assuming I lived in the Bay Area, if I'm going to devote a fall Saturday to attending a game in person, it's going to be for a game that's expected to be exciting. We have a lot of competing demands for our entertainment dollars and our precious free time, so before I commit to buying increasingly expensive tickets, I want to have some level of confidence that I'm getting a good deal for my money.
And yes, as a fan of my teams, I just want wins. But the article seems to be asking what gets folks to show up in the first place, and it makes plenty of sense that, on average, a perceived close, competitive game would put more butts in the seats than a game perceived as one-sided. For me, I live in Colorado but I didn't grow up here, so I'm not a fan of the local professional teams. If I'm going to buy tickets to an Avs/Nuggets/Rockies game, it's going to be for what I think will be a really good game or where there's some other special aspect about the game that will draw me in (e.g., my favorite team is in town, a really good team with lots of stars is coming to town and it's always exciting to watch the very best do their thing, or there's a milestone or something else historic in play).
And 82, that's a good point. I obviously love Stanford sports or I wouldn't be on this board, but assuming I lived in the Bay Area, if I'm going to devote a fall Saturday to attending a game in person, it's going to be for a game that's expected to be exciting. We have a lot of competing demands for our entertainment dollars and our precious free time, so before I commit to buying increasingly expensive tickets, I want to have some level of confidence that I'm getting a good deal for my money.