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The Role of Uncertainty of Outcome and Scoring in the Determination of Fan Satisfaction in the NFL

Author

Listed:
  • Rodney J. Paul

    (St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY, USA)

  • Yoav Wachsman

    (Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA)

  • Andrew P. Weinbach

    (Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, USA, aweinbac@coastal.edu)

Abstract

Fan satisfaction with individual sports games is likely to be an important indicator of future sales of tickets, television and radio advertising, and team merchandise sales. For the 2009-2010 National Football League (NFL) season, NFL.com, the official website of the NFL, had fans enter a ‘‘fan rating’’ for each game of the season. This rating was on a scale of 0—100 with 100 being the most memorable. Using these figures, the authors test the economic hypotheses of the importance of uncertainty of outcome during the game and overall points scored by both teams in the game. As expected, the margin of victory in the game was shown to have a negative and significant effect on the fan rating, implying that fans enjoy uncertainty of outcome as the game is played. In addition, higher scoring games led to higher fan ratings than lower scoring games, implying fan preference for scoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodney J. Paul & Yoav Wachsman & Andrew P. Weinbach, 2011. "The Role of Uncertainty of Outcome and Scoring in the Determination of Fan Satisfaction in the NFL," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(2), pages 213-221, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:12:y:2011:i:2:p:213-221
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002510376789
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Babatunde Buraimo, 2014. "Spectator demand and attendances in English league football," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 4, pages 60-72, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Sang Hun Sung & Doo-Seung Hong & Soo Young Sul, 2020. "How We Can Enhance Spectator Attendance for the Sustainable Development of Sport in the Era of Uncertainty: A Re-Examination of Competitive Balance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Babatunde Buraimo & Rob Simmons, 2015. "Uncertainty of Outcome or Star Quality? Television Audience Demand for English Premier League Football," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 449-469, November.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver & Feddersen, Arne & Kunz-Kaltenhäuser, Philipp, 2022. "Demand for TV broadcasts of UEFA Champions League games in Danish television - The impact of uncertainty of outcome, stardom, and local heroes," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 165, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    5. R. Alan Bowman & James Lambrinos & Thomas Ashman, 2013. "Competitive Balance in the Eyes of the Sports Fan," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 14(5), pages 498-520, October.
    6. Adam Cox, 2018. "Spectator Demand, Uncertainty of Results, and Public Interest," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(1), pages 3-30, January.

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