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Sports Fans' Evaluations of Sporting Code Innovations http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Sports Fans’ Evaluations of Sporting Code Innovations A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management Studies at The University of Waikato by Christopher Rex Musgrave The University of Waikato February 2011 i ABSTRACT Today‟s professional sports are frequently evolving and changing their design, structure and format. Many such innovations have been spurred on by the opportunity to capitalise financially on new markets and increase profit. This study used both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (depth interviews) methods in order to examine fans‟ attitudes towards the current state of Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Soccer and Cricket. The findings for Rugby Union concluded that the recent experimental law variations have succeeded in what they were introduced to do. Fans believe that Rugby is more exciting to watch than ever before and that it is now a faster and more attack-focused contest. Fans believe that Rugby League has improved following the introduction of the video referee and in particular by the use of two on-field referees. They believe that it is now a more exciting and faster game. Fans also believe that salary caps are good for Rugby League and help to increase competition and spread the wealth of talent among the teams. Netball fans are excited by possible new innovations and show support for the inclusion of power plays, two point goals, rolling substitutions and increased physical contact. Fans believe that Soccer needs to adopt technology in order to help its officials but they also admire the traditionalism of the code. Surprisingly, fans show support for increasing the sizes of Soccer‟s goals in order to make it easier for teams to score. Fans show support for Twenty20 cricket and seem undeterred by recent match fixing scandals. There is also evident support for the introduction of Beach Cricket to New Zealand. Analysing fans‟ attitudes towards professional sport‟s product innovations has led to a final implication and conclusion for the administrators and governing bodies of professional sport. That is, it would be wise to keep the traditional codes and their formats as traditional as possible. However, evolve the same sport in to a completely separate format in order to financially capitalise on different markets. Twenty20 cricket is a perfect example of this. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible if it wasn‟t for my supervisor, Dr Ron Garland, whose ongoing encouragement; guidance and support from start to finish have helped me in completing this study and thesis. I would also like to deeply thank my partner Rachel for her patience, support and enduring encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my Mum and Dad for teaching me that anything is possible with the right attitude, hard work and determination. Chris Musgrave 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 8 1.1 Sport‟s Role In Our Lives …………………………………………… 9 1.2 The Traditions of Sport ……………………………………………… 11 1.3 The Commercial Aspect of Professional Sport ……………………… 11 1.4 Professional Sport‟s Recent Direction ………………………………. 15 1.5 Professional Sport‟s Product Innovations …………………………… 21 1.5.1 Rugby Union …………………………………………….. 22 1.5.2 Rugby League …………………………………………… 24 1.5.3 Netball …………………………………………………… 25 1.5.4 Soccer/Association Football ……………………………… 28 1.5.5 Cricket ……………………………………………………. 32 1.5.6 Technology ………………………………………………. 35 1.5.7 Coverage …………………………………………………. 37 1.5.8 Ethics and Gambling ……………………………………... 38 1.5.9 Summary of Professional Sport‟s Product Innovations …... 40 2.0 Literature Review ……………………………………………………… 41 2.1 Economies of Professional Sport …………………………………….. 41 2.2 Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Sport ………………. 42 2.3 The Excitement Motivation Factor ………………………………….. 43 3.0 Research Methods ………………………………………………………… 46 3 3.1 Overview …………………………………………………………… 46 3.2 Data Collection Procedures ………………………………………... 46 3.2.1 Depth Interviews ………………………………………. 47 3.2.2 The Survey ……………………………………………… 47 3.2.3 Sample Selection ……………………………………….. 50 3.3 Analyses ……………………………………………………………. 51 3.3.1 Qualitative Analysis ……………………………………... 51 3.3.1.1 Key Words and Thematic Analysis ……………… 51 3.3.2 Quantitative Analysis ……………………………………. 52 4.0 Results and Discussion …………………………………………………… 53 4.1 Participants ………………………………………………………….. 53 4.2 Key Word Results …………………………………………………… 54 4.3 Rugby Union ………………………………………………………… 58 4.4 Rugby League ……………………………………………………….. 66 4.5 Netball ………………………………………………………………. 70 4.6 Soccer / Association Football ………………………………………… 75 4.7 Cricket ………………………………………………………………. 84 4.8 Other Notable Findings ……………………………………………… 90 5.0 Conclusions………………………………………………………………... 95 References ……………………………………………………………………… 100 Appendices …………………………………………………………………….. 105 4 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: Attendance Figures by Sport …………………………….. 10 TABLE 2: Forbes Association Football/Soccer Rich List …………… 12 TABLE 3: Key objectives of the major stakeholders: Implications for design of the elite competition …………. 18, 19 TABLE 4: Participation Figures by Sport for Australia and New Zealand 2010 (registered players) ………………….. 21 TABLE 5: Most Predominant Innovations/changes to design and structure in the chosen codes …………………………….. 40 TABLE 6: Demographics of In-depth interview participants ……….. 53 TABLE 7: Survey Participants‟ Gender …………………………….. 54 TABLE 8: Survey Participants‟ age distribution …………………….. 54 TABLE 9: Experimental Law Variation Survey Results …………… 58 TABLE 10: The 2010 NPC ITM Cup Survey Results ……………….. 60 TABLE 11: Rugby Union and the Value of Scoring Methods Survey Results ………………………………… 62 TABLE 12: Survey Results for Rugby Union‟s overall State of the Game ……………………………………….. 63 TABLE 13: Survey Results for the Video and Two on-field Refereeing Media Scrutiny………………... 66 TABLE 14: Survey Results for Rugby League‟s Salary Cap Scandals …………………………………….. 68 TABLE 15: Survey Results for Rugby League‟s Overall State of the Game ………………………………. 69 TABLE 16: Survey Results for Attitudes towards Netballs‟ Innovations and Changes ……………………… 71 TABLE 17: Survey Results for Netball‟s Current State of the Game and its ANZ Australia and New Zealand Championship …………………………………………… 73 5 TABLE 18: Survey Results for Soccer and the Adoption of Technology Debate ………………………………………… 76 TABLE 19: Survey Results for Soccer and Future Innovations and Changes ………………………………………………… 78 TABLE 20: Survey Results for Participants‟ Attitudes towards Local Soccer Coverage ……………………………. 81 TABLE 21: Survey Results for Soccer‟s Current State of the Game …………………………………………… 82 TABLE 22: Survey Results for Attitudes towards Twenty20 Cricket …… 84 TABLE 23: Survey Results for Beach Cricket ………………………….. 87 TABLE 24: Survey Results for Cricket‟s Recent Scandal and Current State of the Game ……………………………… 88 TABLE 25: Survey Results for Television Coverage Attitudes …………. 90 TABLE 26: Results for the Potential of Introducing a High School Draft System in NZ ………………………………….. 92 TABLE 27: Results for North Island vs South Island Series ……………... 93 6 LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Survey Participant Demographics …………………….. 105 APPENDIX 2: Interview Guide ……………………………………….. 106 APPENDIX 3: Survey Instrument …………………………………….. 107 APPENDIX 4: Validity Results………………………………………… 117 APPENDIX 5: Construct Reliability Correlations……………………… 118 APPENDIX 6: Survey Advertisement ………………………………… 123 APPENDIX 7: Participant Consent Form ……………………………… 124 APPENDIX 8: Survey Analysis – Independent Sample T-Test Results… 125 7 1.0 Introduction Product innovations in professional sport are becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence. Examples of such innovations are strewn throughout current professional sports such as Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Soccer and Cricket. In spite of this, although there is a solid literature base surrounding the sports fan‟s excitement motivation factor in which product innovations in professional sport are conceived, there is scant attention in the sport marketing literature with regard to how these innovations are perceived by the fans. Attaining knowledge surrounding how these changes are impacting professional sport‟s final-end consumer, the fan, is desirable from a managerial perspective, given that, professional sport‟s product innovations are aimed at positively increasing fans‟ enjoyment and satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to investigate sports fans‟ attitudes towards certain changes and innovations to New Zealand‟s five highest participated and viewed professional sports. These sports (in no particular order) are: Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Soccer, and Cricket. This study was bound by three central research questions. Firstly, this study needed to identify prominent innovations
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