How We Can Enhance Spectator Attendance for the Sustainable Development of Sport in the Era of Uncertainty: A Re-Examination of Competitive Balance

Abstract

This study seeks to find factors that determine the mobilization of spectators in games of the Korean professional baseball league for sustainable development. In particular, it re-examines the uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis by looking at the effect of competitive balance (CB) on seat occupancy in stadiums. Data for 2160 games over three years (2015–2017) from the archives of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) were analyzed. The results show that the CB of the home team, with the entire teams, affects seat occupancy rate (SOR). It is also shown that there exists an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between CB and SOR. However, the winning percentage of the home team in the entire league had a significant impact on the SOR. This implies that the overall athletic performance of the home team in the league competing with all other teams is much more important than the home team’s competitive balance in the season played before the game, for attracting fans to the stadium.