Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine Japanese rugby fans' intentions and constraints with regard to attending the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. Many studies have analyzed the behaviour of sports events participants. However, few studies have examined the intentions or constraints with regard to rugby fan in terms of going to a mega sports events. This study investigated the intentions and constraints associated with Japanese rugby fans with regard to going to the mega sports event, Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. There are several kinds of Japanese rugby fan: Top-League fan, university rugby fan, Japan national team fan, world rugby fan, etc. Their fans were classified into three fan segmentations associated with the level of intention for the Rugby World Cup 2011, using an independent t-test. Moreover, seven different constraint dimensions were identified using factor analysis. The results were discussed using the theory of a hierarchical model of leisure constraints.
