Should I stay (at home) or should I go (to the stadium)? Why will some football supporters not return to the stadium after the COVID-19 pandemic in German Bundesliga?

Figures & data

Figure 1. Response to the question ‘Do you plan to go to the stadium as soon as it is possible again?’.

Table 1. Mean of factor ‚feel at home before the COVID-19 pandemic’.

Feel at home before C19	All	Club member	Non-club member	Season ticket	No season ticket	Fan club member	No fan club member
Mean	4.20	4.22**	4.12**	4.25**	4.17**	4.39**	4.16**

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 2. Mean of factor ‘feel at home during the COVID-19 pandemic’.

Feel at home during C19	All	Club member	Non-club member	Season ticket	No season ticket	Fan club member	No fan club member
Mean	3.45	3.50**	3.23**	3.22**	3.58**	3.36**	3.46**

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 3. Principal component analysis of reasons for not going to the stadium.

	COVID-19 pandemic α .869	All fans or no one α .691	No tickets α .296
‘I think if only a few spectators are allowed in the stadium, that lacks the stadium atmosphere (mood, stadium experience)’.	.064	.837	.045
‘Either all fans should be in the stadium or no one’.	.066	.844	.043
‘The hygiene concept has not convinced me’.	.599	.276	.036
‘Because at that time no one was vaccinated’.	.845	.121	.057
‘The incidence value was too high for me’.	.896	.060	.005
‘I generally avoid larger crowds during the pandemic’.	.774	−.079	−.004
‘Because I personally did not feel safe’.	.878	.033	−.006
‘I had no possibilities to get tickets’.	−.225	−.446	.597
‘I didn’t even know that spectators were allowed back in’.	.183	−.002	.630
‘I did not have the possibility to go to the stadium together with friends/family’.	−.037	.198	.688

Table 4. Mean of factor COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic	All	Club member	Non-club member	Season ticket	No season ticket	Fan club member	No fan club member
Mean	2.41	2.34**	2.71**	2.60**	2.31**	2.31**	2.43**

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 5. Mean of factor negative development in football.

Negative development in football	All	Club member	Non-club member	Season ticket	No season ticket	Fan club member	No fan club member
Mean	3.79	3.77**	3.85**	3.90**	3.72**	3.90**	3.76**

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 6. Logistic regression of the reasons why supports will not come back to the stadium.

	Not coming back AME
Feeling at home before the COVID-19 pandemic	−.032**
Feeling at home during the COVID-19 pandemic	−.063**
COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for not going to the stadium	.049**
Negative development in professional football	.040**
Club member (1 = yes, 0 = no)	.039**
Season ticket holder (1 = yes, 0 = no)	−.000
Fanclub member	−.020**
Ultra	.039*
Academic qualification (1 = university degree, 0 = lower than university degree)	−.000
Gender (1 = male, 0 = female)	−.001*
Age	.001**
N	23,024
Nagelkerkes R^2	.273

*p < .05. **p < .01

Table 7. Club members coming back into the stadium.

	Coming back to stadium	Not coming back into the stadium
No club member	88.6%	11.4%
Club member	89.8%	10.2%