‘Girls just want to have fun?’ Sex differences in motives of watching the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship

Abstract

With global media attention and a global reach, mega-sporting events play a crucial role in sports communication. Although the audience of these events has traditionally been overwhelmingly male, in recent years they have attracted an increasing number of women. The present paper therefore explores women’s and men’s motives for watching three mega-sporting events – FIFA World Cup 2006, the UEFA European Championship 2008 and FIFA World Cup 2010 – and compares the intensities of the three central motives of thrill, entertainment and information, especially as they relate to participants’ levels of general interest in sport. The results indicate that as their interest in sport increases, the differences between the motives of women and men decrease. This finding provides valuable initial insights into the increasing popularity of mega-sporting events among women.