An Analysis of the Factors and Marketing Techniques Affecting Attendance at NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Games

Abstract

The gap in revenue production at most schools between the two “big-time college sports” and women’s basketball is vast. One of the biggest contributors to revenue for most sports is attendance, and while there has been some general research on attendance in college sports, there is little prior work examining women’s basketball specifically. The purpose of this study was to fill the dearth of research and to gather information on the factors that influence attendance at women’s intercollegiate basketball games. Division I marketing directors at 329 schools that sponsored Division I women’s basketball were included in the survey and 18 (35.87%) participated. The discussion section examines the qualitative survey answers in detail and provides recommendations to those involved in in the industry of marketing women’s college basketball.