Attendance at basketball matches: a multilevel analysis with longitudinal data.

Multilevel analysis is used to evaluate the elements which compose fan attendance in Czech basketball. The data set analyzed is comprised of a ten year study of 18 teams which played in the highest Czech basketball league. This study differs from other demand studies which evaluate fan attendance in that a cultural secondary sport, basketball, is studied in a globally semi-periphery country, the Czech Republic. Previous studies have focused on primary sports in globally core countries. The study shows multilevel analysis to be a useful methodology for demand studies of fan attendance. It was shown that there is a slightly increasing linear tendency in attendance across time. The independent variables of final place and number of foreigners and are measured across time as the time-varying predictors of the dependent variable of fan attendance within teams. The independent variable of hall capacity was considered as the time-invariant predictor of growth rates and attendance initial statuses between teams. It was shown that final place is and number of foreigner players is not a good single predictor of attendance, respectively. Finally, the findings confirmed that the growth rate within teams is limited by the team’s hall capacity.

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