University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Marketing Faculty Publications Marketing 2012 The Robins Center: Is Less More? Randle D. Raggio University of Richmond, [email protected] John Richardson Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/marketing-faculty- publications Part of the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Raggio, Randle D., and John Richardson. "The Robins Center: Is Less More?" Sport Marketing Quarterly 21, no. 2 (2012): 119-29. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marketing at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marketing Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 2012, 21, 119-129, © 2012 West Virginia University The Robins Center: Is Less More? John Richardson and Rändle D. Raggio John Richardson, MBA, is an associate director of development for the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Rändle D. Raggio, PhD, is an assistant professor of marketing at the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond. His research interests are in the areas of branding and the role of gratitude in marketing. The Robins Center: Is Less More? examine the evaluation of renovation options and the The Robins Center at the University of Richmond, impact such a decision may have on fans, team per- home of Richmond's men's and women's basketball formance, the financial performance ofthe coUegiate teams, had hosted a Presidential debate in 1992, but at athletic department, and the larger institution in which 38 years old it was time for a major renovation. In it operates. As the case concludes before a final deci- mid-March 2011, based on the success ofthe men's sion is announced, readers are encouraged to reach basketball program over the past two seasons, a gener- their own conclusion on the best option to pursue. ous donor had agreed to contribute the total amount However, before recommending an option, the case needed to renovate the Robins Center. requires a thorough financial analysis ofthe differing options and a critical analysis of athletic department In late April, Jim Miller, Richmond's Athletic assumptions, as well as other institutional considera- Director, had to make a presentation to the board of tions, all of which become important inputs to the trustees and the university president with his proposed decision process. When finished, one should be able to renovations. One of his major decisions was whether or recommend one ofthe four options and provide sup- not to reduce the seathig capacity ofthe Robins Center. port for the recommendation from relevant literature The architects had presented three options for the ren- and theory and other information provided in the case. ovations and two ofthe three featured reduced seating. Finally, one should have a greater understanding ofthe Miller knew that reducing the capacity of the Robins complexity of such decisions. The following sections Center was not necessarily a bad idea. In the fall of provide information about the university and its recent 2010, the athletic department transitioned its football football move, its men's basketball program, the sur- program from a downtown stadium, UR City Stadium, rounding market. The Robins Center history and cur- which seated 21,320, into the brand new on-campus rent use, as well as information on facilities at peer and 8,700-seat Robins Stadium. Prior to the season, alum- other institutions; however, it is important to begin ni, fans, and the community were skeptical ofthe with a fundamental review of relevant strategic con- move to a smaller stadium, but it proved to be very cepts in sport marketing that may impact this critical successful: revenue from football ticket sales increased, decision: sportscape, ticket scarcity, and the stadium donations to the Spider Club increased, and the game- novelty effect. day experience and atmosphere of Richmond Spider football improved. Sportscape Miller wondered if the same effects were possible for the Robins Center. Would the combination of a reno- In addition to prior and current-season winning per- vated space and reduced seating capacity of the Robins centages, promotional activities, and team loyalty, "sta- Center create enough incremental demand to increase dium surroundings play an important role in revenue from tickets, drive additional donations to the determining spectators' attendance tendencies" Spider Club, and create a more dynamic atmosphere (Wakefield & Sloan, 1995, p. 154). Important "atten- for Richmond basketball? Or would the reduction in dance tendencies" are spectators' desire to stay at an seats have a negative impact on revenues and the bas- event and their desire to return to another event at the ketball programs? Would alumni or other peer institu- same facility. Services marketing research demonstrates tions look negatively on a reduction of seating and a that the service setting impacts satisfaction with an smaller arena? event, which in turn increases the likelihood that cus- As facilities play an important role in attracting and tomers will stay longer at an event (increasing the retaining spectators, the purpose of this case study is to probability of spending more money) and will return again in the future (Bitner, 1992), and this finding Volume 21 • Number 2 • 2012 • Sport Marketing Quarterly 119 holds in the sport context (Wakefield & Blodgett, 1996; finds that people place greater value on, and have a Wakefield, Blodgett, & Sloan, 1996; Wakefield & Sloan, greater desire for, items that are or are becoming more 1995). Indeed, behind appreciation for the sport, game scarce (e.g., Cialdini, 1995; Lynn, 1992). In fact, percep- entertainment, team quality, and promotions, the facil- tions of scarcity influence consumers, "even when the ities category generates the fifth-most comments in (consumption) opportunity holds little attraction for us Greenwell, Lee, and Naeger's (2007) evaluation of on its own merits" (Cialdini, 1995, p. 270). Wann, comment cards at a minor league baseball and arena Bayens, and Driver (2004) demonstrate that percep- football game. Wakefield and Sloan (1995) coin the tions of scarcity increase desire to attend a game, term "sportscape" to describe the physical elements of increase willingness to miss another event to attend the the setting in which fans view games. Sportscape game, and increase willingness to pay to attend the includes factors such as stadium access, facility aesthet- game. Although their research setting is collegiate bas- ics, Scoreboard quality, seating comfort, and layout ketball, their focal game is a Sweet 16 matchup between accessibility, which includes space allocation for Duke and the University of Kentucky, not a typical reg- amenities such as concessions and restrooms, and sig- ular-season game. However, West (1975) demonstrates nage (Wakefield et al., 1996). Of these factors, those that even manipulating the scarcity of a university's that impact spectators' feelings of being crowded or cafeteria food (which pretests had revealed to be of cramped (e.g., seating comfort and access to seats, rest- poor quality) increases students' desire to consume the rooms, and concessions) have the greatest impact on food. Thus, Wann et al.'s (2004) context may not have spectators' desire to stay at a game and/or return for a significant impact on the results. Interestingly, they future games (Wakefield et al., 1996; Wakefield & also investigate the impact of identification with the Sloan, 1995). It is the entire experience, not only the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Team team's performance, that attracts fans to games identification has a significant impact on the three out- (Wakefield & Sloan, 1995). Studies across multiple come variables, but does not interact with scarcity, countries and sports demonstrate a positive impact of indicating that "the scarcity effect was equally powerful tangible elements of sportscape (e.g., physical facuities) for all fans regardless of level of identification with the on customer satisfaction (Kim, LaVetter, & Lee, 2006; team" (Wann et al., 2004, p. 214). Lamb recht, Kaefer, & Ramenofsky, 2009), repurchase Sport marketers must use caution when applying intentions (Kim et al, 2006), and word-of-mouth scarcity tactics from other contexts. For example, (Theodorakis & Alexandris, 2008). However, more Inman, Peter, and Raghubir (1997) demonstrate the recent research fails to find a significant relationship power of sales restrictions (e.g., "limit 3 per customer") between facility space and service satisfaction in Japan to increase sales in a retau setting. However, this is not (baseball) and the U.S. (football) (Yoshida & James, likely to be as effective in a sport marketing setting 2010). Additionally, Theodorakis and Alexandris because fans that want to purchase above the restricted (2008) find no significant relationship between tangi- quantity may not buy at all, as the hassle of coordinat- bles and repurchase intentions in Greece (soccer). ing multiple purchases and/or concerns over seat Hightower, Brady, and Baker (2002) provide a assignments may keep them from buying. Gierl, potential explanation for the diversity of findings. They Plantsch, and Schweidler (2008) classify scarcity tactics position sportscape within a more comprehensive into those focused on quantity or time. Under quanti- model of sport service consumption and identify the ty-focused tactics, they identify those due to supply and mediating role of overall service quality, value, and those due to demand. Tactics that focus on scarcity due positive affect between sportscape and behavioral to demand such as "only X seats left" or "X% sold" do intentions (word-of-mouth, repeat purchase, willing- not discourage potential buyers of large blocks of tick- ness-to-pay, and time spent at the event). Support for ets, but some buyers may believe that if response has the mediated effects of sportscape indicates that sports- been strong, no good seats (or no seats together) cape is only one of several contributing factors to those remain.