The constraint factors of potential international sports fan tourists

Abstract

This study examines the global market diversification and constraint factors associated with potential Japanese international sports fan tourists. Data were gathered from Japanese general tourists (N = 3773) in an annual Japan Travel Bureau Foundation survey conducted by email. Of those surveyed, 7.7% (N = 292) had considered watching sports in foreign countries. The International Sports Fan Constraints Scale (alternative leisure options, security, the lack of tourist attractiveness, different culture, companions and distance) was developed. Then, the mean scores by sports and destination were compared and discussed. The results provide practical implications for stakeholders including not only sports organisation marketing managers but also tourist marketing managers.

Keywords

International sports fan International Sports Fan Constraints Scale leisure constraints sports and destination watching sports

Introduction

Professional sports have expanded since the 1990s due to globalisation. In particular, major sports such as baseball, American football and basketball in North America and soccer in Europe have developed considerably. Games are broadcast by the media, and people all over the world enjoy watching sports live on television (TV). Following the expansion of professional sports, academia focused on sports fans. Many researchers have investigated the constraints of sports fans from a variety of aspects. Sports fan constraint scales have been developed mainly in North America since late 1990s. The number of international sports fans has also increased due to the globalisation of professional sports and the expansion of mega sports events. The scale of professional sports leagues and mega sports events has expanded in recent years. In their vacation, many sports fans travel to foreign countries to watch international events featuring the world’s top athletes or players. The number of international fan tourists has increased, and understanding their behaviour is very important for stakeholders and those involved in marketing, such as sports organisations, travel companies and government tourism organisations. In this study, Japanese potential international tourists are used as data. The main aim of most Japanese outbound tourists was originally sightseeing; however, since mid-1990s, their aims have become more diversified. Much of the literature has studied the constraint factors and travel types of Japanese outbound tourists; however, there has been little investigation into the constraints of international Japanese sports fan tourists. This study examines the constraint factors scale of Japanese potential international sports fan tourists and analyses these factors in terms of sports and destinations.

Background

Japanese sports fans preferences and outbound tourists destinations

Many kinds of spectator sports are held in Japan: baseball, soccer, professional golf, basketball, sumo wrestling and so on (Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2010). The most popular spectator sport is baseball (professional and amateur) with 22.6% jointly, followed by soccer (domestic league) with 4.4%, marathon/ekiden with 4.2% and then soccer (amateur) with 3.3% (Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2010). The spectators watching various sports involve more males than females: baseball (professional): 22.4 versus 10.1%; baseball (amateur): 8.7 versus 4.1%; soccer (domestic league): 5.7 versus 3.1%; respectively. There are fewer literature about the Japanese sports fan. Many international tourists watch sports games or events. Since 1995, many Japanese professional sports players, baseball players or soccer players have gone abroad (Chiba, 2004). Mahony et al. (2002) analysed the Japanese professional soccer league using seven motivational factors. These factors include drama, vicarious achievement, aesthetics, team attachment, player attachment, sport attachment and community pride. Won and Kitamura (2007) compared the behaviour of Japanese professional soccer league fans and Korean professional soccer league fans. They identified 10 factors for soccer fans and found that the Japanese soccer fan identified strongly with a team and vicarious achievement. Korean fans were significantly more motivated by personal benefits such as family, players and drama.

International sports are popular in Japan, and many Japanese sports fans watch sports games or sports events in foreign countries on TV. Table 1 shows the ranking of popular sports watched on TV by respondents (Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2010). A much larger numbers of people watch sports on TV than visit a stadium as sports spectoators (e.g. 16.2% watch professional baseball at the stadium vs. 65.1% on TV)/ Bold letters (national team) with 38.3%, Major League Baseball with 25.1%, car racing with 12.1%, overseas soccer with 11.3% and overseas basketball with 5.8%). Regarding overseas sports, more males watch than females (soccer (national team 45.9 vs. 30.9%, Major League Baseball 36.5 vs. 16.3%, motor sports 18.5 vs. 5.9%, soccer 11.6 vs. 4.7%, basketball 7.7 vs. 3.8%). Regarding overseas sports, more males watch than females (soccer (national team) 61.5 vs. 50.6%, Major League Baseball 50.5 vs. 24.6%, motor sports 28.6 vs. 11.3%, soccer 20.8 vs. 8.8%, basketball 13.4 vs. 7.1%). Since 1995, many Japanese professional sports players, baseball players (Chiba, 2004) or soccer players have gone abroad. Hong et al. (2005) classified the three main motives of the Japanese Major League Baseball fan as: having an overall interest in baseball; an interest in the players and the quality of games. These motivations indicated the Japanese fans’ emotional attachment and attitudinal and behavioural loyalty to Major League Baseball. With regard to the destination of Japanese outbound tourists, before 1984, the main destination of Japanese outbound tourists was the United States, in particular, Hawaii. After 1985, the destinations diversified and many tourists visited European countries, namely the United Kingdom, France and Germany. After 2000, the number of tourists to Asia increased. Although the United States (including Hawaii and Guam Island) is more popular than China, the latter exceeded the United States in 2006. In 2010, the main destinations were (1) China; (2) South Korea; (3) Taiwan; (4) Hong Kong and (5) Hawaii (JTA, 2012; The Ministry of Justice, 2012).

Table 1.

Popular sports watched on television in Japan (Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2010).^a

	Overall (N = 2000)	%		Male (N = 983)	%		Female (N = 1017)	%
1	Professional baseball	65.1	1	Professional baseball	76.2	1	Figure skates	72.5
2	Figure skating	58.9	2	High school baseball	60.7	2	Professional baseball	54.4
3	High school baseball	53.9	3	Sumo wrestling	52.3	3	Marathon, ekiden	50.0
4	Marathon, ekiden	50.6	4	Marathon, ekiden	51.2	4	High school baseball	47.3
5	Sumo wrestling	44	5	Professional golf	48.0	5	Sumo wrestling	44.0
6	Professional golf	39.8	6	Soccer (national team)	45.9	6	Professional golf	31.8
7	Soccer (national team)	38.3	7	Figure skates	44.9	7	Soccer (national team)	30.9
8	Soccer (domestic league)	27.9	8	Professional wrestling	39.2	8	Soccer (domestic league)	20.3
9	Professional wrestling	27.6	9	Major League Baseball	36.5	9	Professional wrestling	16.3
10	Baseball (international)	25.7	10	Soccer (domestic league)	35.8	10	Baseball (international)	16.3
11	Major League Baseball	25.1	11	Baseball (international)	35.4	11	Basketball (NBA)	14.0
12	Horse racing	15.1	12	Horse racing	20.5	12	Horse racing	9.7
13	High school soccer	13.4	13	Formula One racing	18.5	13	High school soccer	8.5
14	Formula One racing	12.1	14	High school soccer	18.0	14	Formula One racing	5.9
15	Soccer (Europe)	11.3	15	Soccer (Europe)	11.6	15	Soccer (Europe)	4.7
16	Rugby	7.3	16	Rugby	11.6	16	Volleyball	4.6
17	Basketball (NBA)	5.8	17	Basketball (NBA)	7.7	17	Basketball (NBA)	3.8
18	Volleyball	2.9	18	Boat racing	2.8	18	Rugby	3.0
	Nothing	5.6		Nothing	4.1		Nothing	7.0

^aThe contents given in boldface indicates ‘overseas sports’.

Leisure constraints

Lepisto and Hannaford (1980) defined marketing constraints as controllable, uncontrollable and semi-controllable constraints. From the leisure perspective, Crawford and Godbey (1987) developed a conceptual framework of leisure constraints, which consists of the following three categories: (1) Intrapersonal barriers mean psychological states and attributes that may affect preferences, for example, depression due to stress, anxiety, religion or the attitude of the reference group. (2) Interpersonal barriers are produced by the relationships between the participants. For instance, parent–child or partner relationship with the family. (3) Structural barriers are constraints between preference and participation, for example, season, climate, working time and availability of opportunity. This model is interconnected and does not explain the process of how consumers might deal with the constraints. The studies of the constraints are based on theories of leisure constraints. The Crawford and Godbey (1987) model was extended by Crawford et al. (1991) and represents a hierarchical model of leisure constraints. When people participate in a leisure activity, three constraints are encountered hierarchically. First, they face intrapersonal constraints, which are the most influential constraints in making a decision to take part in leisure activities. Then, they will have interpersonal constraints. If they overcome both intrapersonal and interpersonal constraints and do not have any structural constraints, they will finally participate in the leisure activity (Crawford et al., 1991). Jackson (1993) introduced the concepts of balance and negotiation. Leisure constraints might be considered as a function of the interaction, or balance, between constraints and motivation. Hubbard and Mannell (2001) analysed the relationship between constraints and motivations using four different models (independence model, negotiation-buffer model, constraint-effects-mitigation model and perceived-constraint-reduction model). Their results demonstrated no significant relationships between motivation and constraints. Using a Greek household survey, Alexandris and Carroll (1997) examined the dimensions of the constraints and the relationships between sport participants and nonparticipants. Their results indicated that intrapersonal constraints were connected with sport participation or nonparticipation. Hawkins et al. (1999) extended the classifications of the three constraints. They showed that intrapersonal constraints were not important reasons for nonparticipation in leisure interests, whilst, on the other hand, interpersonal and structural constraints seemed to be in need of negotiation. Alexandris et al. (2002) investigated the level to which intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints affected intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation (inability or unwillingness to participate in a normal social situation). The results show that intrapersonal constraints interact with motivational aspects and act as psychological mediators both of amotivation and intrinsic motivation and support the Crawford et al. (1991) constraints model.

Constraints of sports fan

The concept of constraints comes from leisure activities. However, researchers have investigated the relationships between being a sports participator or a spectator and constraints. Compared with the study of sports fan motivation, the study of sports fan constraints is limited. Welki and Zlatoper (1999) examined the attendance factors of spectators of the National Football League. Spectator attendances were affected by external factors such as weather, ticket price or the quality of the competitor team. Trail et al. (2008) analysed the different structure constraints between genders. They approached the research both from nonvenue constraints (other sport entertainment, game on radio/TV, leisure activities, financial cost, weather, social commitments, work/school commitments, stadium location and lack of team success) and from venue constraints (professionalism of staff, concessions, restrooms, seating, cleanliness of venue and parking). Although there was not much difference in venue constraints, there were some differences in nonvenue constraints. Females more than males considered the larger constraints as being the weather, social commitments and work/school commitments. On the other hand, males thought larger factors were other sports entertainment and lack of team success. Pritchard et al. (2009) investigated how factors motivate patronage using U.S. Major League Professional Baseball spectators. They also analysed how constraints affect consumption using two internal constraint factors (low priority and physical) and five external constraints factors (financial, schedule conflict, limited access, travel and diminished appeal). Their results showed that baseball fans with external constraints attended less frequently. Kim and Trail (2010) analysed the constraints of spectators of U.S. women’s professional basketball. They used four internal constraint factors (lack of knowledge, lack of success, lack of someone to attend with and no interest from others) and seven external constraint factors (commitments, cost, leisure alternatives, location, parking, participating sports and sport entertainment). Lack of success in internal constraints and leisure alternatives in external constraints contributed significantly to attendance. Some sports fan constraint studies have examined domestic league sports fans; however, only a few specific studies have analysed the constraints that work upon the international sports fan. Kim and Chalip (2004) analysed the relationship between constraints (financial constraints and risk constraints) and motivation. Nyaupane and Andereck (2008) extended the three-dimensional constraints model by including three additional dimensions: place attributes, lack of time and lack of money. They demonstrated that the three-dimensional constraint factors interfered with people travelling depending on different demographic factors such as age or income.

Sports fan tourist study

Many studies have examined motivations or constraints from either a sports marketing perspective or a tourist perspective; however, few studies have analysed data from both a sports fan and a tourist perspective. Using a sample of American soccer club members, Kim and Chalip (2004) analysed the relationship between Fédération Internationale de Football Association Soccer World Cup intention motives (desire to attend and feasibility of attending), drawing on five demographic factors, five fan motives, three travel motives, attraction and two constraint factors. The results of regression analysis showed that the ability to attend the Soccer World Cup was positively impacted by the event interest as sports motives and the risk constraints and was negatively impacted by financial constraints. The desire to attend the Soccer World Cup was positively affected by the desire to learn about Korea as tourist motives and the event interest and negatively affected by age and risk constraint. Interest in sports events was affected by both intention motives. Taks et al. (2009) investigated the relationship among four motives (socialising, escape, learning about the destination and learning about athletics) on identification with the event, previous visitation, information, tourism activities and likelihood of recommendation and returning to the host destination using nonlocal event spectators of the Pan American Junior Athletics Championship in Windsor (Canada) in 2005. They analysed the data using hierarchical regression analysis. Classic tour as tourism activities, previous visit and escape motivation showed a significant impact on return to the destination. As regards recommended destination, classical tour, previous visit, escape and leaning destination are significant variables. There are some studies about sports tourists; however, these only examined the motivation of participants and a small study (Kim and Chalip, 2004) focusing on the constraints of sports fan tourists.

Constraint studies built on work done originally on leisure constraints, and most of these studies have examined active sports tourists. Some leisure studies have demonstrated constraints. Although most studies have examined the constraints of tourists, few have analysed constraint factors for sports fan tourists. This study examines the constraints of potential international sports fan tourists. Economic factors, companions, distance, alternative leisure, safety, uncertainty, accessibility and circumstances are shared factors in these studies, and these factors were used to construct questions in order to design scales for potential international sports fan tourists.

Research questions

Having reviewed the relevant literature including that on Japanese sports fan and tourists and constraints studies of sports fan tourists, Japanese sports fan and tourists, gaps in the literature were identified.

The main aim of this study was:

to analyse constraints factors of potential Japanese international sports fans.

The study’s sub question asked:

What is a constraint scale for potential Japanese sports fan tourists?

How do these factors differ according to the destination and sports?

Methodology

Data

Data were collected from the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation (JTBF) database. Tourist data for 4000 members of the general public using email are collected annually by JTBF. The JTBF database is suitable for a broad investigation of the general international sports fan, because it is a general, large-scale survey. The number of respondents was 3773 and the response rate was 94.3%. Of the 3773 respondents, the number of actual international sports fans who have been to watch sports events or sports games in foreign countries was 292 (7.7%).

Research instrument

To understand the market for Japanese outbound sports fan tourists, watching sports and destination countries data in addition to basic demographics such as gender, age and professions was gathered. No study has specifically examined Japanese international sports fan constraints. Then, constraint items from existing leisure constraint studies (Crawford and Godbey 1987; Crawford et al. 1991; Kim and Trail, 2010; Trail et al., 2008) were selected. Using these leisure constraint items, nine items (economic factors, companions, distance, circumstance, alternative leisure, safety, uncertainty, accessibility, culture, vacation and schedule) for potential international sports fan tourists were selected. In this study, international sports fans are employed to provide sample data. Existing leisure constraint models have dealt with the domestic sports game but have not included tourist factors. In addition to these items, the lack of tourist attractiveness for international potential sports fan tourists was added. A 7-point Likert-type scale was used.

Data analytical methods

To construct a new scale (International Potential Sports Fan Constraint Scale) based on existing sports fan constraint scales or studies, strictly statistical processes were used. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was first conducted to identify the International Potential Constraints Scale and was tested using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). In this study, goodness of fit (GFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and comparative fit index (CFI) were used as fit indices. If the test was rejected, the item with the smallest factor loading was removed and tested until three indices (GFI > 0.900, CFI > 0.900 and RMSEA < 0.080) fitted (Hair, 2005; Netemeyer et al., 2003). Based on each constraint scale, which was extracted from the factor analysis, the factors associated with each constraint were analysed. Independent t test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to compare the factor scores by sports and destination differences.

Findings and discussion

Statistical description

Potential sports fan tourists are people who have considered watching sports games or events in foreign countries. This part explains the analysis of potential sports fan tourists. From the total sample (N = 3773), the number of potential sports fan tourists was 292 (7.7%). Table 2 indicates the sociodemographic variables of potential sports fan tourists.

Table 2.

Socio-demographic variables of potential international sports fan tourists.

Variable	Category	N	%
Gender	Male	183	62.7
Gender	Female	109	37.3
Age (years)	under 20	14	4.8
	21–30	48	16.4
	31–40	72	24.7
	41–50	62	21.2
	51–60	42	14.4
	≥61	54	18.5
Marital status	Married	157	53.8
Marital status	Unmarried	135	46.2
Children	Yes	132	45.2
Children	No	160	54.8
Profession	Company executive	11	3.8
	Private company	97	33.2
	Public worker	15	5.1
	Self-employed	28	9.6
	Freelance	14	4.8
	Temporary worker	12	4.1
	Part-time worker	28	9.6
	Housewife	33	11.3
	Student	26	8.9
	No job	28	9.9
	Total	292	100.0

There are more males (62.7%) than females (37.3%). In terms of age categories, the 31- to 50-year-old respondents are in the majority (45.9%). Private company workers, including company executives, constitute the largest group at 37.3%.

Potential sports fan market diversification

As in the case of actual sports fan tourists, potential sports fan tourists considered watching a variety of sports and visiting many destination countries. Table 3 indicates the combination of sports and the desired destination of potential sports fan tourists.

Table 3.

Market diversification of potential international sports fan tourists.

Sports category	N	%
Soccer (Europe)	73	34.1
Baseball (US)	71	33.2
Soccer (Asia)	29	13.6
F1 (Asia)	11	5.1
F1 (Europe)	11	5.1
Tennis (UK)	7	3.3
American football (US)	7	3.3
Olympics (Asia)	5	2.3
Others	78	23.1
Total	292	100.0

F1: Formula One.

For this group of potential sports fan tourists, European soccer (34.1%) was the most popular spectator sport and US baseball (33.2%) was second, the reverse of the results for actual sports fan tourists. These two major sports make up 67.3% of all potential sports fan tourist choices. In addition to the sports watched by actual sports fan tourists, potential sports fan tourists also listed European Formula One (F1; 5.1%), UK tennis (3.3%) and US American football. From a tourist perspective, Japan Tourism Marketing (2012) shows that the major destinations of Japanese outbound tourists are (1) China, (2) South Korea, (3) Taiwan, (4) Hong Kong and (5) Hawaii. The popular destinations of general outbound tourists are concentrated in neighbouring countries; however, the destinations of potential sports fan tourists have diversified into three main regions: Europe, the United States and Asia. While professional sports leagues in neighbouring countries are still underdeveloped, soccer and some F1 races have been held in some Asian countries.

Potential sports fan tourist constraint scale

The sports fan constraints factors of international potential sports fan tourists were identified. As in that case, factor analysis was used to identify the constraint factors for potential sports fan tourists. Initially, EFA was conducted to identify the factors involved. Then, the scales were examined by means of CFA, and the potential sports fan tourist constraint scale was created.

An EFA was used on the potential sports fan tourist sample (N = 292) using principal axis factoring analysis with promax rotation. At the first rotation, seven factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were extracted, (χ ² (231, N = 292) = 912.389, p < 0.001; GFI = 0.808 (<0.900); RMSEA = 0.101 (>0.080); CFI = 0.836 (<0.900); Akaike information criterion (AIC) = 1050.389).

Three criteria did not fit. So, the process of EFA was repeated and was tested using CFA again. Finally, 12 items were dropped from the total number of items and 6 factors with 12 items were identified. The evaluation of fit indices indicated that the fit of the six-factor sports fan tourist constraint model was accepted (χ ²(39, N = 292) = 93.576, p < 0.001; GFI = 0.950 (>0.900); RMSEA = 0.069 (<0.080); CFI = 0.978 (>0.900); AIC = 171.576). Both Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure (0.725) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity (2482.278, df = 66, p < 0.001) exceeded the lower limit.

Six constraint factors were identified.

The first factor was alternative leisure (ALT). Watching sports in foreign countries is expensive. Potential sports fan tourists compare watching sports in foreign countries with other alternative leisure pursuits.

The second factor was entitled security (SEC). Security has become an important issue, in particular since the 9/11 attacks (Taylor and Toohey, 2006). Potential sports fan tourists consider public safety or public security in destination countries.

The third factor reflected lack of tourist attractiveness (LOT). International sports fan tourists are also tourists. They consider the tourist attractiveness of the destination countries.

The fourth factor was labelled different culture (DCU). International sports fan tourists go to foreign countries. They experience different cultures and different languages.

The fifth factor was entitled companions (COM). Sports fan tourists want to enjoy time spent with friends or family members. They consider the arrangements for their travelling companions.

The sixth factor was entitled distance (DIS). Japan is an island, which is a long way away from some of the destinations that host popular international sporting events.

The Cronbach’s α of the total scale was 0.910, and the αs for each of the four factors were above 0.70.

Table 4 also shows the mean score and the SD with regard to the six constraint factors. DIS (M = 5.16, SD = 1.60) has the highest score, while SEC (M = 4.14, SD = 1.71) and ALT (M = 4.03, SD = 1.43) are above average. LOT (M = 3.14, SD = 1.40) has the lowest score.

Table 4.

Factor analysis of constraint items and score.

	EFA		CFA			Score
Factor and items	Loading	α	SFL	CR	AVE	Mean	SD
1. ALT		0.94		0.94	0.89	4.03	1.43
Do alternative leisure	0.95		0.89
Spend money on alternative leisure	0.93		0.99
2. SEC		0.95		0.95	0.90	4.14	1.71
Politics in host country	0.99		0.95
Security in host country	0.91		0.95
3. LOT		0.90		0.90	0.82	3.14	1.40
Not sure I can enjoy other activities	0.91		0.90
Lack of tourist attractiveness	0.90		0.91
4. DCU		0.91		0.91	0.84	3.81	1.70
Different culture	0.92		0.88
Different language	0.89		0.95
5. COM		0.84		0.84	0.72	3.81	1.56
Family are not interested in event	0.86		0.87
Friends are not interested in event	0.85		0.83
6. DIS		0.74		0.83	0.72	5.16	1.60
Have to fly for a long time	0.89		0.78
Distance to destination	0.78		0.91
Overall score						3.78	1.08

ALT: Alternative Leisure; SEC: Security; LOT: Lack of Tourist Attractiveness; DCU: Different Culture; COM: Companions; DIS: Distance; α: Cronbach’s alpha; SFL: Standardised Factor Loadings; CR: Composite Reliability; AVE: Average Variance Extracted; EFA: Exploratory Factor Analysis; CFA: Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

The international sports fan tourist constraint scale consists of six constraint factors (ALT, SEC, LOT, DCU, COM and DIS). Finally six factors scale of Japanese international potential sports fan constraints was extracted from 10 factors (Table 5) using a strictly statistical process. With regard to potential fans, six constraint factors were extracted. A classification of internal constraints and external constraints (Kim and Trail, 2010) found that DCU and COM are internal constraints, while ALT, SEC, LOT and DIS are external constraints. As expected, the DIS dimension was the highest constraint for international tourists. The destinations of most potential fan tourists are Europe and North America, although some potential fan tourists want to go to neighbouring Asian countries such as China, Taiwan or South Korea. In addition, the external constraints of SEC and ALT are high barriers for potential international sports fan tourists. SEC has become a great concern since September 11 2001 (Taylor and Toohey, 2006), and this is an important constraint factor for potential international sports fan tourists. The cost of watching international sports is obviously much higher than for watching domestic sports. Potential fan tourists consider and compare watching sports in a foreign country with the cost of other leisure activities. The ALT factor is also a strong constraint factor for potential international sports fan tourists. The results imply that external constraints such as DIS, SEC and ALT would be key factors for potential sports fan tourists.

Table 5.

Constraint factors of sports fan studies and question items of my study.

	Constraints factors
Author (year)	Economic factors	Companions	Distance	Alternative Leisure	SEC	UNC	ACC	Culture	Vacation and schedule	Lack of Tourist Attractiveness
Welki and Zlatoper (1999)	Income price					Performance
Kim and Chalip (2004)	Financial constraint				Risk constraints
Trail et al. (2008)	Financial cost Concessions		Stadium location	Other sport entertainment Leisure activities		Lack of team success	Parking	Social commitments Work/school commitments
Pritchard et al. (2009)	Financial		travel	Personal priority			Accessibility		Schedule
Kim and Trail (2010)	Cost	Lack of someone to attend with no interest from others	Location	Leisure alternatives		Lack of knowledge Lack of success	Parking	Commitments
My questions	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
Extracted factors after factor analysis		√	√	√	√			√		√

LOT: Lack of Tourist Attractiveness; COM: Companions; DIS: Distance; ALT: Alternative Leisure.

Sports and destination differences of potential sports fan tourists

In order to compare each constraint scale across different sports, a series of one-way ANOVAs were conducted to analyse the top eight combinations of sports and destinations (N > 5).

Overall constraints showed a significant difference between the various sports. The ALT (F (7, 206) = 2.447, p < 0.05), SEC (F(7, 206) = 6.140, p < 0.05) and LOT (F(7, 206) = 4.363, p < 0.05) subscales indicated significant differences between the various sports (Table 6).

Table 6.

Mean and SD for the constraint subscales by sports category.

	OCO	ALT	SEC	LOT	DCU	COM	DIS
European soccer (N = 73)	3.54 (1.02)	3.86 (1.50)	3.88 (1.61)	2.58 (1.38)	3.60 (1.62)	3.79 (1.58)	5.03 (1.63)
US MLB (N = 71)	3.79 (.99)	4.45 (1.36)	3.80 (1.47)	3.12 (1.07)	3.94 (1.73)	3.65 (1.46)	5.32 (1.58)
Asian soccer (N = 29)	4.30 (.80)	4.07 (1.24)	5.72 (1.50)	4.07 (1.62)	3.95 (1.61)	3.69 (1.34)	5.88 (1.28)
Asian F1 (N = 11)	4.05 (1.31)	4.18 (1.54)	4.23 (2.09)	3.32 (1.03)	4.64 (2.10)	3.91 (1.76)	4.95 (1.92)
European F1 (N = 11)	3.28 (1.56)	3.23 (2.02)	2.95 (1.96)	2.50 (1.94)	3.50 (2.13)	4.23 (2.16)	5.45 (1.90)
UK tennis (N = 7)	3.60 (1.13)	3.93 (1.43)	3.21 (2.08)	2.93 (1.27)	4.07 (1.54)	3.86 (1.46)	4.50 (1.61)
US NFL (N = 7)	3.11 (1.03)	2.71 (1.15)	3.07 (1.54)	2.79 (1.75)	2.64 (1.41)	4.36 (2.08)	5.36 (1.41)
Asian olympic (N = 5)	4.02 (.94)	4.40 (.55)	3.90 (2.01)	3.90 (1.14)	4.10 (1.24)	3.80 (1.10)	5.40 (1.39)
F Statistics	2.487*	2.447*	6.140*	4.363*	1.182	.361	1.175
Others (N = 78)	3.39 (1.13)	3.98 (1.35)	4.45 (1.56)	3.40 (1.31)	3.81 (1.71)	3.87 (1.61)	4.89 (1.59)
Total (N = 292)	3.78 (1.08)	4.03 (1.43)	4.14 (1.71)	3.14 (1.40)	3.81 (1.70)	3.81 (1.56)	5.16 (1.60)

OCO: Overall Constraints; ALT: Alternative Leisure; SEC: Security; LOT: Lack of Tourist Attractiveness; DUC: Different Culture; COM: Companions; DIS: Distance; F1: Formula One.

*p < 0.05.

US Major League Baseball versus European soccer

Two major sports, US baseball (N = 71) and European soccer (N = 73), were compared using an independent t test. In terms of overall constraints, results from US baseball fans (M _USBaseball = 3.79, SD = 0.99) and European soccer fans (M _{EuropeanSoccer} = 3.54, SD = 1.02) indicated no significant differences (t(142) = −1.488, p > 0.05). With regard to subscale, ALT (t(142) = 2.488, p < 0.05) and LOT (t(142) = 2.642, p < 0.01) showed significant differences. US baseball fans had stronger constraints, except in terms of companions (M _USBaseball = 3.65, SD = 1.46 < M _{EuropeanSoccer} = 3.79, SD = 1.58), than European soccer fans did. US baseball fans had stronger constraints, except in terms of COM, than European soccer fans had (Table 7).

Table 7.

Mean, SD and significant differences in mean score relative sports (US Major League Baseball vs. European Soccer).

	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
	US Baseball	European Soccer
	(N = 71)	(N = 73)
OCO	3.79 (.99)	3.54 (1.02)
ALT*	4.45 (1.36)	3.86 (1.50)
SEC	3.80 (1.47)	3.88 (1.61)
LOT**	3.12 (1.07)	2.58 (1.38)
DCU	3.94 (1.73)	3.60 (1.62)
COM	3.65 (1.46)	3.79 (1.58)
DIS	5.32 (1.58)	5.05 (1.63)

OCO: Overall Constraints; ALT: Alternative Leisure; SEC: Security; LOT: Lack of Tourist Attractiveness; DUC: Different Culture; COM: Companions; DIS: Distance.

**p < 0.01; *p < 0.05.

There are some studies of sports fan constraints in different sports (Kim and Trail, 2010; Pritchard et al., 2009; Trail et al., 2008). Kim and Trail (2010) analysed the constraint and motivation factors of US women’s basketball fans. However, these studies focus on only one sport. The results showed that the SEC factor was dependent on the tourists’ destination region. Asian soccer, Asian F1 and Asian athletics demonstrated higher constraints than European or US region sports. This result implies that international sports fan tourists feel Asian regions are more dangerous than North American or European regions. Two major sports, European soccer and US baseball, were compared in this section. ALT options and LOT were the factors that showed significant differences between US baseball and European soccer. The results suggest that European soccer fans do not have as many constraints on tourist activity as US baseball fans. European soccer fans like to focus on watching sports.

Conclusion and further study

This study examined the constraints affecting potential international sports fans using Japanese general international tourist data. Professional sports leagues or global sports events have expanded in popularity over the last two decades. Sports fans often move internationally to watch sports games during their vacation. I began the study by profiling the demographics and global market diversification of international sports fans. I then considered the constraint factors in terms of sports and destination. The analytical results provide both theoretical academic implications and practical implications. In terms of academic implications, the ‘International Sports Fan Constraints Scale’ was developed. To my knowledge, till date, no study has developed an international sports constraints scales for Japanese potential fans. The six factors: ALT, SEC, LOT, DCU, COM and DIS are fundamental for further study. With regard to the practical implications, some approaches based on sports and destinations are showed. The implications for different sports and different destinations would be useful for stakeholders in the form of both sports marketing managers associated with a particular destination and Japanese tourist marketing managers. This study provided a number of important contributions to marketing managers and to theory. However, it has several limitations and suggests some fields for further study. The sampling method may limit our ability to generalise the results. In terms of international sports fans of world class professional sports leagues or mega sports events, sports fan tourists come from a variety of countries from all over the world. However, my data were collected from one nationality (Japanese) only. Further studies are needed to determine whether or not the findings can be generalised to other nationalities. Comparison analysis of different nationalities in terms of different social backgrounds will provide more detailed marketing implications for both travel companies and sports organisations.

Footnotes

Acknowledgement

The author appreciated the cooperation of the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation database that was used for this survey.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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