The role of motivation in the development of spectators’ behavior in professional football competitions

The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of motivation in the development of spectators’ behavior professional football competitions. To evaluate the motivation for sport event attendance was used the “SPEED” scale of Funk, Filo, Beaton and Pritchard (2009). The first confirmatory factor analysis didn’t confirm the factorial structure of fans’ motivation scale. Subsequently was conducted an exploratory factor analysis of the scale and determined four factors of the scale: a) socialization, b) excitement, c) self-esteem and d) amusement. A second confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and confirmed the new factorial structure of the motivation’s scale. The results of a regression analysis indicated that 22.5% of the variance _ in home football games attendance _ was explained by the motivation factor of “socialization”. A second regression analysis indicated that 46.1% of the variance _ in away football games attendance _ was explained by two factors, “socialization” and “self-esteem”. Finally a third regression analysis indicated that 34% of the variance _ toward media usage _ was explained by “amusement” factor. It’s proposed to enhance the sense of socialization and achievement of fans in order to attract them to the stadium.