Getting Generation Y to attend: Friends, interactivity and half-time entertainment

Highlights

► Friends and sporting orientation affect sport attendance. ► Social networks offer promotional opportunities in new markets. ► Half-time activities have minimal effect on attendance.

Abstract

People from Generation Y, given their number and stage in the family life-cycle, represent a key emerging audience for major sports. The study focussed on the effect of friends and half time enhancements on likely attendance at matches. The sport domain was the Australian Football League (AFL), the elite Australian rules football competition. The enhancements being tested were half-time entertainments based on performers from well-known television talent shows, Australian Idol and It Takes Two. Scenarios with and without interactive participation, based on short messaging service (SMS) messages, were tested. The study used a general population sample of 909 Generation Y people in a traditional AFL market and one where AFL is not the major winter competition. Previous attendance and sport orientation were the major influences on attendance at major sports, including the AFL. Friends influenced likely attendance at a game, but no effects were found for half-time entertainments. People who attended matches with friends typically had social activities before and after the game. This suggested that one promotional strategy to expand existing markets was to find and engage the social networks of existing fans, making sport attendance a broader part of an overall social event.

Keywords:

• Generation Y
• Friends
• Half-time entertainment
• Attendance
• Promotion
• Sport orientation

Acknowledgements

The authors owe a considerable debt to the reviewers for their continued, constructive suggestions on earlier submitted versions of this paper. The AFL funded the collection of the Internet panel data. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.