The Motivational Preferences of Consumers Attending Multiple NCAA Wrestling Events

During the past 30 years, NCAA Division I athletic administrators have chosen to engage in a profit maximization model that has resulted in program eliminations for non-revenue, Olympic sport programs ( Ridpath, Yiamouyiannis, Lawrence, & Galles, 2008 ). With “lack of spectator interest” identified as a significant criterion for program elimination (Gray & Petzer, 1995), there is a strong need for the development of marketing plans that improve non-revenue consumer interests at the local, regional, and national levels. Thus, the purpose of the research was to examine the motivational preferences of consumers at NCAA wrestling events (N = 975). In addition to demonstrating consistent trends in cumulative motivational preferences (e.g., individual match-ups, achievement, and wrestling loyalist), the results illustrated that consumers had unique reasons for attending the different types of wrestling events.