The Sports Business (SpB) program at Northern Kentucky University is proud of the survey design and data analysis work presented by this group of students to our course client, NKU Intercollegiate Athletics, to conclude the semester. The students impressed the client by developing a survey, collecting data, and presenting results to address a research question posed by NKU Athletics to kick off the Field Application Student Training (FAST) projects in SpB 305: Sports Marketing.
What's Field Application Student Training? The FAST system is designed to integrate client-based group projects across classes in the Sports Business curriculum at NKU. As students participate in various SpB courses, group projects across courses may focus on complementary components of a single challenge faced by an industry client.
2. How can the athletic department at NKU
increase basketball game attendance among
both students and alumni?
3. The survey was completed by 573 participants
55% are female
51% travel 11-20 minutes to get to NKU
68% are between the ages of 17 and 25
51% attended NKU between 2011 and 2014
4. 98 respondents
Game attendance
40% attended 0 games in the last 12 months
18% attended more than 15 games
88% were aware NKU is in the A-Sun conference
Social Media
Twitter-24%
Facebook-31%
46% have children
5. 333 respondents
Game attendance
35% attended 0 games in the last 12 months
6% attended 15 or more games
83% were aware that NKU is in the A-Sun
conference
Social Media
Twitter-35%
Facebook-35%
30% Junior
46% Seniors
6. 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Basketball
Soccer
Baseball/Softball
Volleyball
Alumni
Students
•How likely are you to attend the following sporting events at NKU?
(Mean score on a scale from 1-5, 5 being most likely)
For both students and alumni,
basketball is the most likely sport to
be attended.
7. 3%
9%
25%
10%
12%
41%
Alumni
0 games
1 game
2-4 games
5-8 games
9-12 games
12+
5%
12%
32%
22%
11%
18%
Students
0 games
1 game
2-4 games
5-8 games
9-12 games
12+
•41% of alumni have attended 12 or more NKU basketball games in the last 2 years
•18% of students have attended 12 or more NKU basketball games in the last 2
years
•Alumni respondents were contacted since they were already in connection to NKU
athletics, which could introduce bias
8. 71%
61%
69% 70%
29% 31%
22%
82%
77%
69%
62%
59%
49% 47%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Alumni
Students
How important is each of the following factors in your decision to
attend an NKU sporting event?
Top 2 box score combining “relatively important” and “extremely important”.
Day of the week is the most
important factor for both
students and alumni in
deciding to come to an NKU
sporting event
10. 14%
43%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Become Season Ticket
Holder
Return to Campus for
Athletic Event
•14% of students said they would be likely to become a season ticket holder
•43% of students said they would likely return to campus for an athletic event
Top 2 box score
combining
“likely” and “very
likely”
11. 46% are involved in Greek Life
44% are involved in an organization that
relates to their major
64% are involved in intramural sports
12. 63%
58%
44%
31%
29%
20%
20%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Too busy:Work
Too busy:Family
Moving
Not maintaining connection to NKU
Not interested in NKU athletics
Cost
Not Interested in Sports
Obstacles for attending NKU varsity sports
Top 2 box score combining “likely” and “very likely”
After graduation, work and
family involvement will be
the two biggest obstacles
for athletic attendance.
13. Provide NKU sponsored tailgate sections prior
to basketball games for both students and
alumni
77% of students said social interaction was an important
factor in attending a sporting event
61% of alumni also valued social interaction in attending a
sporting event
14. Set up photo-shoot with Victor E. Viking in
the Student Union
▪ Promote student interaction through social media and
NKU website by posting their photo with specific hash-
tag #picwithvic
▪ 31% say an obstacle for not attending NKU varsity sports
is because they are not maintaining a connection to NKU
15. Use existing promotion of shoot around
Saturday to incorporate a family atmosphere
for alumni
58% said that they were too busy with family to
come to games
Target the 46% of alumni who have children
16. Offer group packages to different major
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky business to
bring their offices to NKU games
63% said that being too busy with work was a
reason they didn’t attend NKU games