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The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model for identifying the factors of e-service quality (e-SQ) and for investigating the impact of team identification, e-SQ and satisfaction on behavioural intention to revisit sports websites. The proposed conceptual framework includes five service quality factors of sports websites (usability, privacy, reliability, information, appearance). Based on the previous literature in the areas of e-SQ and team identification, this study attempts to develop a model to better understand the relationships between each construct. The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) results with a convenience sample of 409 college students reveal that team identification has a positive and significant effect on e-SQ, satisfaction and revisitation. In addition, satisfaction is found to be a mediator between e-SQ and revisitation.

This study aims to identify an automated machine learning algorithm with high accuracy that sport practitioners can use to identify the specific factors for predicting Major League Baseball (MLB) attendance. Furthermore, by predicting spectators for each league (American League and National League) and division in MLB, the authors will identify the specific factors that increase accuracy, discuss them and provide implications for marketing strategies for academics and practitioners in sport.

This study used six years of daily MLB game data (2014–2019). All data were collected as predictors, such as game performance, weather and unemployment rate. Also, the attendance rate was obtained as an observation variable. The Random Forest, Lasso regression models and XGBoost were used to build the prediction model, and the analysis was conducted using Python 3.7.

The RMSE value was 0.14, and the R2 was 0.62 as a consequence of fine-tuning the tuning parameters of the XGBoost model, which had the best performance in forecasting the attendance rate. The most influential variables in the model are “Rank” of 0.247 and “Day of the week”, “Home team” and “Day/Night game” were shown as influential variables in order. The result was shown that the “Unemployment rate”, as a macroeconomic factor, has a value of 0.06 and weather factors were a total value of 0.147.

This research highlights unemployment rate as a determinant affecting MLB game attendance rates. Beyond contextual elements such as climate, the findings of this study underscore the significance of economic factors, particularly unemployment rates, necessitating further investigation into these factors to gain a more comprehensive understanding of game attendance.

The current study applied the concept of country image to a context of bilateral relations for two post-Soviet states to examine the impact of a mega sport event on the image of the host country Russia.

Surveys were collected before and after the World Cup to assess any changes among Georgians with regard to their views on Russia and intentions to visit.

The results showed a significant change in Russia’s pre-perceived cognitive image related to reputation, respect and development, as well as the emotional aspect and overall country image after the mega sport event. Interestingly, the affective image of Russia carried more weight in shaping the overall country image compared to the cognitive aspects, suggesting the increasing importance of emotional perceptions over beliefs. However, despite these changes, the study found that mega sport events did not significantly moderate the association between country image and behavior intentions in the context of Russo-Georgian hostile bilateral relations.

This study is one of the first examinations of the impact of hosting mega sport events in countries with hostile bilateral ties. The findings support that mega sport events can be an effective mechanism to gain soft power in that such events can arouse changes in people’s emotions and feelings towards the host country, even for those living in a country with a hostile relationship with the host country. The scope of applicability of these findings can be extended to other contexts, including future hosts of mega sport events in their geo-political contexts.

To extend research into sport consumer behaviors related to online sports betting, this study is designed to identify and examine the relationship between online sports betting motivations and online sports betting intentions. By applying a push-pull framework from online sport consumption and gambling studies, nine motivations to engage in online sports betting were identified. These motivations were hypothesized to motivate online sports betting intentions.

A quota sampling technique based on the sports bettor demographics available in the American Gaming Association (AGA, 2019) and the Pew Research Center (2022) obtained a total of 550 completed surveys that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For data analyses, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to examine the measurement model and the hypothesized model, respectively.

The results revealed that four motivations (i.e. monetary gain, excitement, convenience and negative technology-readiness) were related to online sports betting intention, while five motivations (i.e. sport fandom, positive technology-readiness, impulsivity, socialization and promotion) were not.

The results provide foundational theoretical knowledge of what motivates sports fans to participate in online sports betting. Furthermore, the findings assist practitioners in their allocation of resources by enhancing their understanding of online sports betting motivations.

While each genre and gender has been revealed as significant moderators for esports gameplay intention, exploring the interaction effects between genre and gender could broaden our understanding of the drivers’ relative effects on esports gameplay intention. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the interaction effects of gender and genre in the relationship between esports gameplay intention and its drivers (i.e. hedonic motivation, habit, price value, effort expectancy, social influence and flow).

The hypothesized model was examined using data from a sample (N = 1,194). For the purposes of data analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine the hypothesized model. Then, a series of structural invariance tests were conducted to compare the interrelationship between the six determinants and esports gameplay for the six-group model.

The results of the six-group model comparison indicated that the interaction between gender and genre moderates the relationship between drivers and esports gameplay intention. In particular, the following moderation effects were observed: (1) “social influence-esports gameplay intention” between “male-physical enactment” and “female-physical enactment”; (2) “habit-esports gameplay intention” and (3) “effort expectancy-esports gameplay intention” between “female-imagination” and “female-physical enactment”; (4) “hedonic motivation-esports gameplay intention” and (5) “effort expectancy-esports gameplay intention” between “female-physical enactment” and “female-sport simulation.”

The findings of this current study contributed to clarifying the genre and gender effects in esports gameplay intention and thus the extension of the Esports Consumption (ESC) model (Jang et al., 2020a) and the technology adoption literature. Since the ESC model grounded the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the improvement of the ESC model extended UTAUT2. In consumer behavior research in the esports context, this current study contributed to the extension of UTAUT2 on the new moderating mechanisms by adding the interaction between gender and esports game genre.

This study involved analysis of the consumption behaviours of spectators in the K-League (South Korea). Its dual purpose was to cluster spectators into homogeneous groups on the basis of attitudes towards game attendance, and to define the segments obtained on the basis of the demographic and lifestyle profiles of the spectators. Multiple steps were taken to analyse the data from a survey of 967 spectators. This revealed four distinct groups - promotion-concerned, place-concerned, price-concerned and indifferent.

The PGA Tour/Tiger Woods golf series was examined for brand and product placement and found to have 2,100 identifiable brand images, with all but one occurring in the final three years. Brands appearing most frequently included Oakley, Nike, adidas, TW Nike and Tag Heuer. By product category, Nike was leader in equipment (36%) and Oakley in apparel (31%). The results indicate that video games are increasingly seen as viable marketing avenues.

This study examined the information sources that golfers used to purchase golf clubs. Three personal references (family, friends and salespeople) and five non-personal references (television, newspaper, magazine, product catalogue and the internet) were examined from a total of 626 randomly selected golfers in the US. Approximately 85% of the golfers stated that their primary information sources for purchasing golf clubs were personal references. The results suggest that a marketing strategy should place more emphasis on personal sources than non-personal sources.

The purpose of this study was to examine purchasing intentions in online sports ticketing websites. Based on previous research related to business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, this study developed a conceptual model to test the effect of perceived risk, trust and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) on purchase intentions in online secondary ticket websites. College students (N = 251) from the northeastern region of the United States were chosen as the sample. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to investigate the proposed relationships among four major components (i.e. perceived risk, trust, TAM and behavioural intention). The results showed that there were positive effects of key TAM constructs (i.e. perceived usefulness and ease of use) and trust on purchasing intention, but perceived risk was not a significant indicator of purchase intention.

The study advances brand association research into participatory sports (i.e. fitness) by examining health club related dimensions and extending research into the United States (US). Data were collected from health club members (n=148) at a branded US fitness facility. Factor and regression analyses used specified brand association dimensions and revealed a predictive model of brand loyalty. Findings and discussions will assist fitness managers in brand-building, marketing strategies and member retention.