Date of Award
Spring 2014
Degree Type
Professional Project
Degree Name
Masters in Leadership Studies
Department
College of Professional Studies
First Advisor
Paul McInerny
Abstract
Many women’s college basketball programs struggle in the area of fan attendance. The purpose of this research study is to identify potential contributing factors to this problem. A review of the existing literature helped procure several possibilities including possible failures to locate appropriate target audiences, misguided reliance on winning games to produce fans, distracted fans, lack of star players in the sport, and the inability to produce a sense of belonging among fans. In order to substantiate and/or detail these potential issues, a group of women’s basketball coaches, administrators and team marketers was interviewed. Many of the researched issues were corroborated, while other relevant concepts were revealed through speaking with the respondents. In summary, most respondents emphasized the notion that not enough is being done in women’s basketball to incentivize fans attending and returning to games. This report used a considerable amount of the data and input from the Marquette University’s Women’s Basketball team, with the hope that the findings specifically benefit the program in the near future.