CHARACTERISTICS OF A BRITISH ICE HOCKEY AUDIENCE

Abstract

This article presents a consideration of the major findings from 1425 respondents to two large-scale questionnaire-based surveys of supporters of the British ice hockey club Manchester Storm conducted in 1998 and 1999. It is the intention of this article to provide a source of comparative information on a relatively under-researched audience and as a basis for continuing research on sport audiences, both in Britain and internationally. These surveys suggest that the audience at Manchester Storm is primarily composed of local, mixed gender, family based units, with a large proportion of respondents with what would appear to be relatively affluent occupations and incomes, and is significantly different in profile to that witnessed at many other British mass spectator sports.