Bácsné Bába Éva — Balogh Renátó

Why are football stadiums empty? Adaptation of the Constraints on Sport Consumption Scale

Previous domestic research on passive sport consumption patterns has typically focused on the motivation of fans. In the present study, we aimed to explore the reasons behind the decision of the other side, the potentially engaged spectators, i.e. those who have so far stayed away from matches. To fulfil our research objective, we conducted a survey with a sample size of 1,064 respondents. Our respondents were selected from inhabitants of cities where there is a club with a football team competing in the first division of the Hungarian national championship, i.e. the respondents would have had the opportunity to attend matches. Our results suggest that the main reasons for absenteeism are sport-related - counter-productive - government measures and other leisure activities that keep people away from attending Hungarian football matches. This suggests that the low level of spectator interest is not solely and not even primarily due to the low quality of the matches or the lack of success of the local team, but rather to the fact that people prefer other leisure activities to football matches. In our opinion, the solution to this problem lies in creating and strengthening a culture of passive sport consumption and the local embeddedness of clubs, in addition to the shift to a business-based operation of clubs.

LXX. évf., 2023. June (690 - 708. O.), DOI:10.18414/KSZ.2023.6.690, Workshop

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