The Relationship between the Attitudes of Professional Sport Fans and Their Intentions to Watch Televised Games

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of positive and negative attitudes, as well as team quality, on television viewing intentions. The respondents were asked the likelihood they would watch their favorite and most disliked teams, their favorite and most disliked players, and the best team. They were also asked the likelihood they would watch the disliked team when it was a threat to their favorite and when it was likely to lose. Although respondents indicated a preference for watching the favorite and best teams, they did not automatically prefer watching their most disliked team. However, when the disliked team was a threat to the favorite team or highly likely to lose, the fans did prefer to watch the disliked team over a neutral team. In addition, positive and negative attitudes toward individual players increased viewing intentions. These results have strong implications for marketing and broadcasting decisions.