The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure spectator emotion and investigate the influence of spectator emotion upon the antecedent variables of future game attendance of spectators. The development of the measurement scale was conducted through the following procedure: 1) Collecting the items of measurement from the existing measure and a field survey at a stadium. 2) Reducing the set of items to obtain a reasonable measurement scale for the field study. 3) Confirming the validity and reliability of the measurement using confirmatory factor analysis. Through this procedure, an initial scale measuring 14 emotions (anger, excitement, fear, joy, shame, worry, envy, optimism, relief, pride, guilt, peacefulness, sadness, and surprise) was developed. In the investigation into the influence of spectator emotion, three kinds of relationships among the variables were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and covariance structure analysis. These were: 1) the relationship between affective experiences and team loyalty, 2) the relationship between affective reactions and satisfaction, and 3) the relationship between affective reactions and intention to attend future games. Affective experience and affective reaction were measured as spectator emotions using the newly-developed scale. As a result, it was observed that five affective experiences (worry, joy, surprise, pride, and envy) significantly influenced team loyalty, one affective reaction (joy) significantly influenced satisfaction, and three affective reactions (anger, envy, and pride) significantly influenced the intention to attend future games. These results show that emotional variables such as affective experiences and affective reactions might play an important role in explicating the mechanism of spectator attendance.

View full abstract

The Japanese professional soccer league, J-League, has organized and conducted annually a Rookie Transition Program since its inaugural season of 1993. In the 2004 season, rookie players were required to attend a 3-day-symposium, to pass an examination in the laws of the game and to do some voluntary work in the local community and at the stadium. The aims of the Rookie Transition Program are to make rookie players aware of what a professional athlete should be, to assist them to adopt smoothly a new life as a professional athlete and to make them appreciate the value of the J-League. After re-examining the J-League's previous programs and researching the Rookie Transition Program of the National Basketball Association and the National Football League, both of which are the most successful professional sports leagues in the U.S., the J-League came up with the following policies : 1) not to teach what the J-League wants to teach, but let them feel what players need to know, 2) to make each session short and entertaining, and 3) to deal with as many topics to learn as possible. This paper explains how the J-League planned and evaluated the 2004 Rookie Transition Program. The purposes of this study are to search for better methods for conducting the J-League Rookie Transition Program and to design a model for the rookie transition programs in professional sports leagues.

View full abstract