Program Evaluation Plan to Improve the “In-Game Experience” for Fans During North Carolina State University Men’s Basketball Games

Jordan R. Green

PRT 595

2-16-12

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Table of Contents

Description of Evaluation 3

Purpose of Evaluation 4

Stakeholders of Evaluation 5

Context and Structure of Evaluation 6

Evaluation Questions 7

Literature Review 8

Population/Method 10

References 12

Appendix 14

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Description of Evaluation

Collegiate athletics play a significant role in generating meaningful growth in the sport

industry, especially in the United States. College sports have been renowned as a significant

market segment due to their distinctive characteristics such as high levels of spectator

involvement, a diverse fan base, and passionate market competition. As collegiate sports have

developed into a large business, many colleges and universities are constantly seeking

opportunities to accomplish their missions, such as increasing their visibility, enhancing their

image, and generating financial success through athletic departments (Howard & Crompton,

2004). With fans being a large part of a collegiate program’s success, their behaviors are

considered very different from those of typical consumers. These groups of fans and spectators

look for unique consumption value which they can experience only at collegiate sporting events.

One of the strategic goals listed in the mission statement for the Athletic Department at

North Carolina State University is to “create an innovative branding program that will promote

the Department’s vision and tell the NC State story.” In the 2010-2011 season, research done by

the NCAA found that the NC State Men’s Basketball team attracted 220,457 fans in their 16

home games, with an average attendance of 13,779 fans. Another study, done by the U.S.

Department of Education found that the NC State men’s basketball team generated $10.4 million

in revenue, the 25th highest amount in the country. With such a diverse fan base, which includes

young children, college students and parents, the “in-game” experience is often measured in

different ways by the different “target” groups. Combine the attendance with the revenue, you

will agree that collegiate basketball, especially at NC State is a big business with appeal to fans

across the country, but none more directly than those who attend home games at the University.

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Purpose of Evaluation

The research and topic of fan motivation “in-game” experience, which includes the

action on the court, in the stands, on the jumbotron and promotions throughout the game (free

give-a-ways and other promotional events), has rarely ever been evaluated, especially at the

collegiate level. The purpose of this evaluation plan is to examine and measure how each fan

enjoys him or herself while attending a home NC State Men’s Basketball game, held at the RBC

Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Given the objective to properly identify and improve the fans game day experience at a

basketball game, this evaluation takes on the formative approach. As Rossi, Lipsey and Freeman

(2002) state, this approach is useful for furnishing information in order to guide program

improvement. If executed correctly, this evaluation will give administrators across the country

ideas on how to form or shape basketball games and improve fans enjoyment of those games. As

the writers suggest, the evaluation for program improvement emphasize findings that are timely,

concrete and immediately useful.

In this needs-assessment approach-like evaluation, there are more uses than

consequences, as the purpose of the evaluation is how to adjust and improve the game-day

experience for fans, so they may have a very enjoyable time attending basketball games. This

evaluation will allow the marketing and operations department at NC State and the RBC Center

to examine where in-game entertainment improvements can be made. With any event, the

ultimate goal is to have every single fan, no matter their age, happy with their decision to come

to the basketball game. While the outcome of the game can’t be controlled (win or loss), the

enjoyment and entertainment that is provided outside of the basketball action can always be

tweaked and improved in order to try to please the target consumers. This evaluation will allow

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these departments to do just that. With that being said, a major consequence of the evaluation

could be the realization that very few fans are enjoying themselves while attending the games.

As stated before, the basketball program brings in a lot of money, most of which comes from

ticket revenue. A decrease in fan enjoyment means fewer fans, which in turn results in a

decrease of money in the pockets of athletic departments!

Stakeholders

Given the collegiate athletics scenery, there are numerous stakeholders who will have

direct involvement and interaction with the plan itself, two in particular. The first major

stakeholder is the collegiate athletic department, in this case at NC State. Departments and

administrators are always confronted with changes associating with technology, changing

demographics, increasing competition, rising costs and funding costs (Choi, 2009). The actions,

decisions and consequences all stemming from athletic events, starts and ends with athletic

administrators. With many athletic programs listing to obtain as much revenue as possible, as

one of the major goals, this evaluation will give them first-hand-data on how to provide

enjoyable entertainment for fans, and in turn, give them a better chance of returning to additional

future games (the ultimate goal being to attract season ticket holders!) The marketing and game

operations departments specifically deal with what exactly goes on during the basketball games,

and any changes, implementations and improvements to the fan’s “game experience” begins with

these departments in particular.

As stated before, fans are the key constituent of a sport organization’s success. Each

person that walks in the RBC Center for the NC State (assuming they are not a visiting team fan)

is a fan of the Wolfpack and nearly everyone attends the game to support the team and enjoy

him/herself. Each fan, depending upon age/gender/etc. has a different motivational factor

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(perceived value, involvement opportunity, fan identification, etc.) level that affects his or her

level of excitement and satisfaction with attending a basketball game. For instance, a five year

old boy may enjoy seeing Mr. & Mrs. Wulf more so than the game itself. A current college

student may enjoy having the opportunity to watch the most competitive teams in the country

play live (and free), while a 45year old mother of two may enjoy the game with the sole purpose

of getting on the “Kiss-Cam.” The evaluation will obviously be impossible to accomplish

without the data that the fans will be able to provide.

There are other less major stakeholders as well. The basketball team itself is directly

affected by the evaluation. The team is currently 141-52 in all games held in the RBC Center,

which shows the advantage the team has while playing at home. An improved in-game

atmosphere can do nothing but help the current student athletes and program. Other stakeholders

include the media (television, radio, newspaper), NC State faculty, staff and alumni as well as

the RBC Center employees and local community.

Context/Structure of Program

When Debbie Yow, the current Athletic Director at NC State gave a presentation to the

NC State Board of Trustees just after having accepted the job, she mentioned that one of the

most important actions necessary to transform the current state of the athletic department was to

“provide the best environment to achieve athletic aspirations, and to establish and reinforce the

current culture of the athletic department.”

One of the most important environments Dr. Yow was referring to is that of the RBC

Center. With the exception of a few (often mid-major opponents) games, the NC State

Basketball team plays every one of its home games at the RBC Center, located just outside

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campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. With a seating capacity of 19,700, it is among the largest

and premier college basketball facilities in the country. More than 3,000 courtside seats have

been designed in a pit-type area for the NC State students, and since it opened its doors in 1999,

it has finished every year in the top-25 nationally in attendance.

In order to correctly comprehend what is actually being evaluated, one must understand

what is included in a fan’s “in-game experience.” This term can be defined in many ways, but

generally refers to how a sports fan attending a game enjoys him or herself. While the action on

the basketball court (in this case) is a huge determinant, the “experience” includes everything

from the time the fan enters his/her vehicle to the time he/she arrives back home. It includes the

arena and its extensions such as parking, transportation, cleanliness, accessibility, concessions

(pricing, diversity of food/drink), employees and safety. Once a fan is in his/her seat, the

experience includes the music they hear, the dance team, the cheerleaders, the interactions with

mascots and other fans, as well as the promotions that occur before, during and after the game

itself. Promotions often found at NC State Basketball games include t-shirt tosses and other

giveaways (Harris Teeter/Kroger Gift Card’s). Game “enhancers” also play a huge role in a

fan’s experience such as watching highlights, advertisements, score updates and stats shown on

the state-of-the-art HD jumbotron in the middle of the Arena.

Evaluation Questions

As the appendix will show, the evaluation will include questions to fans that pertain to

their enjoyment of the in-game experience. They are based on different areas that each fan

directly or indirectly participates in while attending the basketball game. From parking,

concessions, watching highlights on the jumbotron or their level of excitement when free

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giveaways are going on, the questions will allow administrators to see what it is that excites fans

even when NC State is losing to UNC by 40 points! With the questions being answered directly

by the participants and participant’s parents, there is no doubt that the answers will be valid.

With the potential improvements and benefits that could arise from fans’ responses, there is no

benefit for them to lie on the surveys with their answers.

Literature Review

Given the constant landscape change of collegiate athletics, there has been limited

research on sports fan motivation, in-game enhancers and fan’s satisfaction of game day

experiences. Nonetheless, statistics show that fans are choosing sporting events as their foremost

form of leisure and entertainment. Consumer interest in 12 major sports has increased over a

four-year period according to a national survey (Frank, 2010). In the U.S., the spectator sports

industry is worth $28 billion and it is estimated that consumers spend $17.1 billion every year on

tickets to sporting events (Kim & Trail, 2010). According to Quinn (2009), $25 billion was

spent on spectator sports in 2007, and specifically, Division 1 NCAA Athletics sports generate

$2.4 billion annually. Why are fans choosing sporting events over movies, amusement parks

and other forms of entertainment?

In the past, sport marketing/evaluation research has analyzed how attendance is affected

by things such as economic constraints by focusing mainly on the topic of sport demand. While

this research has helped marketing and athletic departments develop strategies by profiling

specific consumer segments, the studies have provided little insight into what motivates people

to attend athletic events, or what game enhancers (dance team, free giveaways, etc.) increase

fans’ enjoyment levels. Spectators are the key ingredient of a sport organization’s success. As a

result, understanding spectators and their behaviors is crucial for athletic organizations to

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effectively manage a rapidly changing market place. A satisfactory experience resulting from

attending sporting events would appear to be an important predictor of a fan’s likelihood of

attending future events. Studies such as Mano and Oliver (2003) suggest that individuals who

experience positive affect as a result of the consumption experience are more likely to engage in

repurchase and repatronage activity. In addition, consumer satisfaction acts as a motivator of –

word-of-mouth communications, and serves as a diagnostic tool for management decisions

(Oliver, 1994). James and Ridinger (2002) identified the motives of fans attending men’s and

women’s college basketball games. Their findings revealed that individuals attending the

basketball games were significantly influenced by entertainment values and the involvement

opportunities. Involvement opportunities refer to a variety of fan services provided by the sport

organization to enhance spectator involvement, including stadium accessibility, facility

aesthetics, information availability on game schedule and ticket price, and direct interaction with

fans through the team website. Other research has found that involvement opportunities can

have impact on spectator behavior (Greenwell, Fink and Pastore, 2002). For example, the ICR

Survey Research Group which performed a nationwide survey of 1,000 sports fans found that the

most important factor fans valued when attending professional or collegiate sporting events was

adequate parking or good public transportation.

There are numerous aspects that draw fans to collegiate sporting events. According to

Smith and Stewart (2008), sports fans experience several important psychological, social and

cultural needs such as escapism, stimulation, entertainment, national pride, cultural celebration

and personal identity. Within this study, research by Wann (1995) was cited as the Sport Fan

Motivation Scale, and was developed specifically to measure eight motivations of sports fans:

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eustress, arousal, escapism, entertainment, aesthetic pleasure, group affiliation, family needs,

potential economic gain and self esteem.

Population/Method

The population that will be surveyed and studied are the NC State Basketball fans that

attend home games throughout the year. With an average of over 13,000 fans for each home

game (sell-out games being 19,000+), there will not be a problem of finding participants to

supply the data. Given the number of fans, it should also not be a problem in finding our specific

target markets, young children, college students and parents. While the young children (under

12) will not be able to complete the survey, the ideas and information gathered from their parents

will allow administrators to accurately and properly utilize the data, and in this case, create

opportunities to successfully improve the game-day “experience” for young children. In order to

gather a large number of responses from a wide-variety of ages, the final sample of responses

will include 750 surveys (250 under the age of 18, 250 currently enrolled in college, 250 must be

parents of children).

In order to properly execute the evaluation, the opinions and data must be obtained by

fans directly. During the 2011-2012 basketball season, fans will be administered a survey (post-

game) pertaining to their “game-day experience” during home basketball games. The data will

include two surveys. The first survey will pertain to fan demographics, including gender, age,

racial background, place of residence and a few questions relating to the number of NC State

basketball games attended. The second survey will be built upon the SMFS (Sport Fan

Motivation Scale) developed by Wann (1995), the founding researcher for sport fan motivation.

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The SFMS uses items to identify eight underlying factors influencing fan behavior: group

affiliation, aesthetic, self-esteem entertainment, escape, eustress, economic and family subscales.

Using volunteers to handout/gather the information, the incentive for fans to complete the survey

include being entered in a drawing to win a dinner with Coach Gottfried (Head Coach) and the

entire basketball team prior to the final game of the 2011-2012 season. This will also ensure a

strong response rate.

Surveys will be distributed to any fan desiring to complete the survey upon providing

consent and age verification of 12 years of age or older. Upon ccompletion of the surveys,

subjects will return them to the administrators. Once the surveys are checked for completion, the

administrators will provide the participant with an entry form for the chance to win a dinner with

the basketball team.

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References

Choi, Y. (2009). Motivational factors influencing sport spectator involvement at NCAA Division II basketball games. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education , 3(3), 264-284.

Fink, J. (2000). A theoretical model of sport spectator consumption behavior. International Journal of Sport Management, 3, 154-180.

Greenwell, T., Fink, J., & Pastore, D. (2002). Assessing the influence of the physical sports facility on customer satisfaction within the context of the service experience. Sport Management Review, 5, 129-148.

Howard, D., & Crompton, J. (2004). Financing sport. (2nd ed.). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

James, J.D. & Ridinger, J.L. (2002). Female and male sport fans: A comparison of sport consumption motives. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25, 260-278.

Mano, H., & Oliver, R. L. (1993). Assessing the dimensionality and structure of the consumption experience: Evaluation, feeling, and satisfaction. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 451-466.

Oliver, R. L. (1994). Conceptual issues in the structural analysis of consumption emotion, satisfaction, and quality: Evidence in a service setting. In C.T. Allen & D. RoedderJohn (Eds.), Advances in consumer research: Vol. 21, (pp. 16-22). Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research.

Quinn, K.G. (2009). Sports and Their Fans. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc.

Rossi, P., Lipsey, M., & Freeman, H. (2004). Evaluation: A systematic approach. (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Trail, G.T., & Anderson, D.F., & Fink, J. (2000). A theoretical model of sport spectator consumption behavior. International Journal of Sport Management, 3, 154-180.

Trail, G.T., & James, J.D., (2001). The motivation scale for sport consumption: assessment of the scale’s psychometric properties. Journal of Sport Behavior, 24, 108-127.

Smith, A., & Stewart, B. (2007). The traveling fan: Understanding the mechanisms of sports fan consumption in a sport tourism setting. Journal of Sport Tourism, 2(3), 155-181.

Wann, D. (1995). Sport fan motivation: Questionnaire validation, comparisons by sport, and relationship to athletic motivation . Journal of Sport Behavior,22(1), 114-116.

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Zillman, D., Bryant, J., & Sapolsky, B.S. (1989). The enjoyment of watching sports contests. In J.G. Goldstein (Ed.), Sports, games, and play: Social and psychological viewpoints (2nd ed., pp.241-278). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Appendix

Part I. MEN’S BASKETBALL FAN DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

1. Your Gender (Please Circle) Male Female

2. Your Age_________

3. Racial/Ethnic Background (e.g. White, African American, Hispanic, Asian American)

_____________________________________________________________

4. City and State You Live In: ____________________________________________

5. Rank the Following Items in terms of how they enhance your experience 1-10 (1 = Most Enjoyable and 10 = enjoy the least) at a NC State Men’s Basketball Game:

_____Pre Game Music _____Giveaways (T-Shirt Toss, Etc.)

_____Halftime Entertainment _____Jumbotron Entertainment (Kiss Cam, Highlights)

_____ Concessions _____Team Autograph Sessions

_____Time-Out Entertainment _____Team Mascot (Mr. & Mrs. Wulf)

_____Dance Team/Cheerleaders

_____Pep Band

6. Are you a season ticket holder for NC State Men’s Basketball (Please Circle) Yes No

7. How many NC State Men’s Basketball games have you attended before?

1-5 6-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+ 100+

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Part II. Circle the Responses That Matches Your Experiences with attending NC State Men’s Basketball Game (1 =Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4= Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree)

1. I consider myself to be an NC State Basketball fan. 1 2 3 4 5

2. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at tonight’s game. 1 2 3 4 5

3. I find myself looking at the jumbotron `1 2 3 4 5

more than the action on the floor.

4. I find myself excited during free give-away such 1 2 3 4 5

as the t-shirt toss or Kroger Gift Card Give-a-way.

5. I think more free-items should be given away 1 2 3 4 5

during games.

5. During halftime, I enjoy watching the activities 1 2 3 4 5

on the floor.

6. I enjoy watching the danceteam/cheerleaders 1 2 3 4 5

during timeouts.

7. I find the pre-game music exciting! 1 2 3 4 5

8. The food concession options during the game 1 2 3 4 5

are great!

9. I find that from doors opening to the end of the game, 1 2 3 4 5

I’m constantly entertained during the basketball game.

.

10. I would recommend families I know to bring their 1 2 3 4 5

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children to NC State basketball games.

Part III. Please Rank each using the following scale: 1= Unacceptable, 2 = Poor, 3= Average, 4 = Good, 5 = Excellent

NC State Marketing:

Promotions: 1 2 3 4 5

Item Giveaways : 1 2 3 4 5

Presentations: 1 2 3 4 5

Overall In-Game Entertainment Value: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________

PA Announcer:Accuracy: 1 2 3 4 5

Enthusiasm: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________

Band:Song Selection: 1 2 3 4 5

Energy & Enthusiasm: 1 2 3 4 5

Performance: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments____________________________________________________

Cheer/Dance

Ability to Incite Crowd: 1 2 3 4 5

Technical Performance (Stunts, Tumbling): 1 2 3 4 5

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Energy & Enthusiasm: 1 2 3 4 5

Mascot Performance: 1 2 3 4 5

UshersFriendliness: 1 2 3 4 5

Helpfulness: 1 2 3 4 5

Attentiveness: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________

Facility Cleanliness

Restrooms: 1 2 3 4 5

Concourse: 1 2 3 4 5

Seating Areas: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________

Concessions:

Price: 1 2 3 4 5

Food Quality: 1 2 3 4 5

Food Selection: 1 2 3 4 5

Service: 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________

Parking

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Ease of parking: 1 2 3 4 5

Traffic Ingress/Egrees 1 2 3 4 5

Additional Comments___________________________________________________