What Factors Drive NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Attendance; Do Free Tickets Equal More Fans?

Volleyball is growing in popularity throughout the United States, both as a participatory and spectator sport, particularly at the collegiate level. Little prior research, however, has examined demand variables driving NCAA Division I volleyball attendance. In particular, the current study examines whether selling tickets, as opposed to allowing spectators to attend a match without paying for a ticket, is correlated with attendance. Using a random effects regression model, the current investigation found factors such as promotions, home team success, visiting team success, and proximity of schools all have a positive correlation with attendance. The practice of selling tickets for entry, however, does not have a significant relationship with fan attendance when controlling for a wide variety of time/environment-related, game-related, performance-related, and market-related variables.