Sports Fan’s Motivation among Tunki Abdul Rahman College

University Students – An Overview

¹Tracy Tan Li Jing., & ²Tan Chee Hian

PASSPE-SEA-FSR-UiTM

Corresponding Author: cheehiantan@gmail.com

Abstract

This study investigated sports fan motivation of private college university students. 386
students involved in survey questionnaire consisting demographic and Fan
Motivational Scale (FMS) to determine differences motives of being a sports fan
according to gender, race, age, level of education and number of years of following the
sport. Independent t-Test and ANOVA were used and resulted significance differences
in the quality of game (t = 3.763, (df = 384), p < 0.05) and entertainment (t = 2.083,
(df =384), p < 0.05) motives between different genders Whereas, ANOVA resulted that
there was significance differences of quality of game and motive (F = 3.761, (df =382) ,
p < 0.05); different races., social (F = 3.364, (df = 382), p < 0.05) motive among the
different levels of education and quality of game (F = 12.215, (df = 381), p < 0.05) and
sport atmosphere for the number of years of following the sport respectively. However,
there was no significant difference in the sport fan motives among the different ages.
The favourite sport, team and athlete of Malaysian private college students were
badminton, favourite team sport was Manchester United and favourite individual
athlete was Lee Chong Wei.

Keywords: sports fan, fan motivation

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the Malaysian sports scene has been evolving rapidly. The
success of the Malaysian athletes at the Rio Olympics 2016, the rise of the various
national sports leagues and the opportunity to host high profile events over the years
have increased the profile of the Malaysian sports industry. Based on the Department of
Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the sports industry has generated a value gross output of
RM18.8 billion and it is one of the main industries that drive the country’s tourism
sector (DOSM, 2018; Mahidin, 2019).
 As the sports industry in Malaysia grows, the number of sporting events also
increases. The increase of sporting events is beneficial to the local economy,
particularly for events that attract fans attendance (Roberts et al, 2016). In addition, the
increase of reputable national and international level sporting events organised will
increase the exposure for the sport, teams and athletes in the country.

The increase in exposure helps in increasing fans following. Fans following play
an important role for teams, athletes and events in creating marketing strategies and
securing sponsorship deals. Great marketing strategies could lead to better revenues as
brands are always looking for a good return on their investments (Da Silva & Las
Casas, 2017). Therefore, teams, athletes and events that have great fan engagement are
more favourable for brands to support and sponsors (Pradhan et al, 2020).

Various research has been done relating to fan motivation towards sports
consumption and sport spectatorship (Funk et al, 2009; Popa & Yusof, 2011; Popa et al,
2013; Paek et al, 2021). Motivation is one of the drivers for fans to follow the sport,
team and athlete (Paek et al, 2021). A simple behaviour such as attending a sporting
event could be more complex than it is, studies showed that there are various individual
motives involved (Funk et al, 2009; Paek et al, 2021). Therefore, it is important to
understand the motives of sports fans in following their favourite sport, team, athlete.

Literatures regarding sports fans motivation are widely done in Malaysia.

However, most research did not provide enough information for sports marketers to
understand the motives behind an individual following a sport, team or athlete for the
Malaysia sports market (Popa & Yusof, 2011; Popa et al 2013). Moreover, studies
showed that Malaysia has a huge fanbase for sports such as badminton and football
(Nielsen Sport, 2020) and young adults tend to be more interested in following sports
and eventually become a fan (Nielsen Sport 2018 & 2019). It is useful for sports
marketers to understand the motives for young adults as they would most likely be the
key target group in creating marketing strategies. Therefore, this study will focus on
Sports Fan’s Motivation among Private College Students as far as an overview is
concerned.

PURPOSE OF STUDY
There are several objectives constructed to be answered liked:
 To determine the favourite sport, team and athlete of college students
 To identify the motives of being a sport fan between the different genders of
college students
 To identify the motives of being a sport fan among the different ages of college
students
  To identify the motives of being a sport fan among the different races of college
students
 To identify the motives of being a sport fan among the different level of
education of college students
 To identify the sports fan motivation with the number of years of following the
sport.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
These study findings would be considered as contributed to several perspectives:
1. Sports industry perspective, especially the growth of youth sports’ markets
particularly in Malaysia. In recent years, the rise of social media influence has
seen an increase in youth consumers for sports products and events. They are
also most likely to be a fan of a sport, team or athlete due to this influence. This
would benefit sport event organisers, sponsors, sport product companies, sports
marketers, media, sports teams, athletes and the development of the sport.
2. Sport socio-psychological perspective, because motives of being a sport fan
among private college students would be interesting and helpful to the sports
industry. The results enable them to devise new ideas and strategies to promote
the sporting events or products to the younger generations or more specifically
among private college students.
3. Sports marketers’ perspective, help with the planning process for marketing
strategies or ideas to enhance the economic status of the sport, team or athlete
surrounding the youth and the younger generation. This kind of research also
helps sports marketers to understand the motives or behaviour of a fan when it
comes to psychological marketing methods.

METHODS
It was a quantitative study using the survey method. The questionnaire used for
this research will be the Sport Fan Motivational Scale developed by Yousof Al-Thibiti
(2004).

This study was purposively carried out at Tunku Abdul Rahman University
College (TAR UC) Kuala Lumpur (KL) Main Campus. The students population at TAR
UC KL Main Campus was around 25,000 students.

For this study, non-probability sampling was used. Under the non-probability
sampling, convenient employed. Therefore, the data collection from co-curricular
students, sport and exercise science students, college team athletes and even volunteers.
 The sample group is made up of male and female college students between the
ages of 18 years old to 25 years old, following at least one sport, team or athlete for at
least a year. Participants were very cooperative with the researchers’ self-administrated
survey.

FINDINGS
There are descriptive and inferential statistical used in this study:

Descriptive Statistics
There is a total of 386 Tunku Abdul Rahman University College students
participated in this study. Table 1 outlined the respondents’ profiles. There are male and
female respondents that have participated in this study. The respondents are grouped
into 3 age groups: 18-20 years old, 21-23 years old, above 23 years old. The
respondents are also group into different education levels: Pre-University, Certificate,
Diploma, Advance Diploma and Degree. The respondents are from the following ethnic
groups: Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others (Bajau, Kadazan, Thai, Sikh).

Table 1: Respondents’ Demographic Information (N = 386)

Demographic Group Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender Male 235 60.9
Female 151 39.1
Age 18-20 years old 320 82.9
21-23 years old 60 15.5
Above 23 years old 6 1.6
Level of Education Pre-University 3 0.8
Certificate 7 1.8
Diploma 311 80.6
Advance Diploma 21 5.4
Degree 44 11.4
Race Chinese 353 91.5
Indian 16 4.1
Malay 13 3.4
Others 4 1.0

Based on Table 1, there are 235 (60.9%) male respondents and 151 (39.1%)
female respondents. The majority of the respondents are aged between 18-20 years old
with 320 respondents (82.9%), followed by 21-23 years old with 60 (15.5%) and 24-25
years old with 6 (1.6%).
 For this study, 311 (80.6%) of the respondents are diploma students, 44 (11.4 %)
are degree students, 21 (5.4%) are advance diploma students, 7 (1.8%) are certificate
students and 3 (0.8%) are pre-university students.

Based on the table, Chinese respondents consist of 353(91.5%) of the overall

sample, followed by Indians with 16 (4.1%), Malay with 13 (3.4%) and others with 4
(1%).

Favourite Sport, Team and Athlete and Number of Years Following the Sport
In this study, 20 types of sports and 68 different teams and athletes have been
identified as favourite sport, team and athlete by the respondents. Besides that, this
study also looked into the number of years that the respondents have followed the sport,
team or athlete. The number of years has been grouped into 4 categories: 1 to 3 years, 4
to 6 years, 7 to 10 years and more than 10 years.
Table 2 shows the favourite sport, team or athlete of the respondents, Table 3 is
the number of years that the respondents followed the sport, team or athletes.

Table 2: Favourite Sport, Team and Athlete

Group Frequency Percentage
Favourite Sport Badminton 144 37.3
Football 85 22.0
Basketball 70 18.1
Tennis 16 4.1
Martial Arts 14 3.6
Squash 11 2.8
Volleyball 7 1.8
Table Tennis 6 1.6
Swimming 6 1.6
Athletics 6 1.6
Fitness 4 1.0
Softball 3 0.8
Netball 3 0.8
F1 2 0.5
Cheerleading 2 0.5
Gymnastics 2 0.5
Ultimate Frisbee 2 0.5
Snooker 1 0.3
Rugby 1 0.3
Bowling 1 0.3
Favourite Athlete Lee Chong Wei 107 50.7
Kobe Bryant 11 5.2
Lin Dan 11 5.2
Nicol David 9 4.3
Michael Jordan 7 3.3
Michael Phelps 6 2.8
Roger Federer 5 2.4
Usain Bolt 4 1.9
Lebron James 4 1.9
Rafael Nadal 4 1.9
Bruce Lee 3 1.4
Novak Djokovic 3 1.4
Jeremy Lin 2 0.9
Joo Se Hyuk 2 0.9
Christiano Ronaldo 2 0.9
Ronaldinho 2 0.9
Serena Williams 2 0.9
Brodie Smith 2 0.9
Anton Abasov 2 0.9
Timo Boll 1 0.5
Eric Leong 1 0.5
Steven Lopez 1 0.5
Robin Van Persie 1 0.5
Judd Trump 1 0.5
Lionel Messi 1 0.5
Peter Gade 1 0.5
Allen Iverson 1 0.5
David Beckham 1 0.5
Lee Yong Dae 1 0.5
Liu Xiang 1 0.5
Ronnie Coleman 1 0.5
Buakau 1 0.5
Maria Sharapova 1 0.5
Kennisasa Bekele 1 0.5
Cho Ah Ra 1 0.5
Micheal Schumacher 1 0.5
Ratchaknok Intanon 1 0.5
Lim Wei Sheng 1 0.5
Kai Greene 1 0.5
Evgenia Kanaeva 1 0.5
Adam Shahir Kayoom 1 0.5
Kohei Uchimura 1 0.5
 Favourite Team Manchester United 34 23.8
LA Lakers 22 15.4
Chelsea 16 11.2
Malaysia 9 6.3
Liverpool 9 6.3
Arsenal 9 6.3
Miami Heat 9 6.3
K-Tigers 4 2.8
Chicago Bulls 4 2.8
Barcelona 3 2.1
Bayern Munich 3 2.1
U.S.A. 3 2.1
New York Knicks 2 1.4
Real Madrid 2 1.4
Houston Rockets 2 1.4
Germany 2 1.4
Italy 1 0.7
LA Clippers 1 0.7
Redbull Racing 1 0.7
Boston Celtics 1 0.7
Vipers 1 0.7
Panthers 1 0.7
Japan 1 0.7
Monster 1 0.7
China 1 0.7
All Blacks 1 0.7

Based on Table 2, badminton has been identified by 37.3% of the respondents as

their favourite sport. Followed by, football (22%), basketball (18.1%), tennis (4.1%),
martial arts (3.6%) and squash (2.8%). Other sports that have been identified as the
respondent’s favourite sports are table tennis, volleyball, swimming, athletics, snooker,
Formula 1, softball, netball, rugby, cheerleading, bowling, gymnastics, fitness and
Ultimate Frisbee (2% or less)

Lee Chong Wei is identified by 50.7% of the respondents as their favourite

athlete. Followed by, Kobe Bryant and Lin Dan with 5.2% respondents respectively,
Nicol David (4.3%), Michael Jordan (3.3%), Michael Phelps (2.8%) and Roger Federer
(2.8%). Other athletes that have been identified as the respondents’ favourite athletes
are Usain Bolt, Lebron James, Rafael Nadal, Bruce Lee, Novak Djokovic, Jeremy Lin,
Joo Se Hyuk, Christiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Serena Williams, Brodie Smith, Anton
Abasov, Timo Boll, Eric Leong, Steven Lopez, Robin Van Persie, Judd Trump, Lionel
Messi, Peter Gade, Allen Iverson, David Beckham, Lee Yong Dae, Liu Xiang, Ronnie
Coleman, Buakau, Maria Sharapova, Kennisasa Bekele, Cho Ah Ra, Micheal
Schumacher, Ratchaknok Intanon, Lim Wei Sheng, Kai Greene, Evgenia Kanaeva,
Adam Shahir, Kayoom, Kohei Uchimura (2% or lesser)

Manchester United is identified by 23.8% of the respondents as their favourite team.

Followed by LA Lakers (15.4%), Chelsea (11.2%) and Team Malaysia, Liverpool,
Arsenal and Miami Heat with 6.3% respondents respectively. Other teams that have
been identified by respondents as their favourite team are K-Tigers, Chicago Bulls,
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Team U.S.A., New York Knicks, Real Madrid, Houston
Rockets, Team Germany, Team Italy, LA Clippers, Redbull Racing, Boston Celtics,
Vipers, Panthers, Team Japan, Monster, Team China and All Blacks (3% or lesser)

Table 3: Number of Years Following the Sport, Team or Athlete

Frequency Percentage (%)
1-3 years 207 53.6
4-6 years 103 26.7
7-10 years 60 15.5
More than 10 years 16 4.1

Based on Table 3, the majority of the respondents have been following the sport, team
or athlete for 1 to 3 years (53.6%). There are 26.7% of the respondents have been
following the sport, team or athlete for 4 to 6 years. Followed by, 7 to 10 years with
15.5% respondents and More than 10 years with 4.1%

Inferential Statistics

R. Obj 1: There is no significant difference in the motives mean score between genders
Table 4 shows the significant differences of the 6 motives mean scores between the
different genders.

Table 4: Independent T-Test on the 6 motives mean scores between the different
genders

Mean SD t df Sig. (2-Tailed)

Social 11.27 1.777

1.748 384 .081
10.94 1.888
Quality of Game 15.00 2.452
3.763 384 .000
14.04 2.411
 Escape 18.64 2.968
1.590 384 .113
18.14 3.137
Boredom Avoidance 16.41 2.989
.406 384 .685
16.28 3.082
Entertainment 11.72 1.532
2.083 384 .038
11.38 1.608
Sport Atmosphere 7.25 1.247
1.040 384 .299
7.11 1.377

Based on Table 4, no significant differences were found for the social, escape,
boredom avoidance and sport atmosphere motives between the different genders.
However, significant differences were found for the quality of game motive (t = 3.736,
(df = 384), p = < 0.05) and entertainment motive (t = 2.083, (df = 384), p < 0.05)
between the different genders.

Furthermore, the mean score for the quality of game and entertainment motives
tend to be higher for male respondents (quality of game = 15.00; entertainment =
11.72) compared to female respondents (quality of game = 14.04, entertainment =
11.38).

Therefore, based on the results, quality of game and entertainment motives are
rejected from this hypothesis whereas social, escape, boredom avoidance and sports
atmosphere motives are accepted.

R. Obj2: There is no significant difference in the motives mean score among the races
Table 5 shows the significant differences of the 6 motives mean scores among the
different races.

Table 5: ANOVA Test on the 6 motives mean scores among the different races
F Sig.
Social .458 .712
Quality of Game 3.761 .011
Escape .985 .400
Boredom Avoidance 1.102 .348
Entertainment 1.596 .190
Sport Atmosphere .864 .460

Based on Table 5, no significant differences were found for the social motives,
escape motives, boredom avoidance motives. entertainment and sport atmosphere
motives. However, significant difference was found for the quality of game motive (F =
3.761 (df= 380), p < 0.05).

Therefore, the quality of game motive is rejected from this hypothesis whereas
social, escape, boredom avoidance, entertainment motives are accepted.

R.Obj 3: There is no significant difference in the motives mean score among age groups
Table 6 shows the significant differences of the 6 motives mean scores among the
different age groups. There are three different age groups involved in this study. These
age groups are 18-20 years old, 21-23 years old and above 23 years old.

Table 6: ANOVA Test on the 6 motives mean scores among the different age groups
F Sig.
Social 2.527 0.081
Quality of Game 0.272 0.762
Escape 1.485 0.228
Boredom Avoidance 0.409 0.664
Entertainment 0.447 0.640
Sport Atmosphere 0.502 0.606

No significant differences were found for all six motives among the different
age groups. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

R. Obj 4: There is no significant difference in the motives mean score among the level
of education

Table 7 show the significant differences of the 6 motives mean scores among the
different level of education. There are five different levels of education involved in this
study. These are pre-university, certificate, diploma, advance diploma and degree.

Table 7: ANOVA Test on the 6 motives mean scores among the different levels of
education
F Sig.
Social 3.364 0.010
Quality of Game 0.252 0.908
Escape 0.826 0.509
Boredom Avoidance 0.246 0.912
 Entertainment 1.057 0.377
Sport Atmosphere 0.231 0.921

Based on Table 7, significant difference was found for social motive (F = 3.364,
(df = 381), p <0.05) among the different levels of education. However, no significant
differences were found for the other motives.

Therefore, the social motive is rejected from this hypothesis whereas the other
motives are accepted.

R. Obj 5: There is no significant difference in the motives mean score for the number of
years of following the sport
Table 8 show the significant differences of the 6 motives mean scores among the
number of years following the sport. The number of years has been grouped into 1-3
years, 4-6 years, 7-10 years and more than 10 years.

Table 8: ANOVA Test on the 6 motives mean scores and the number of years
following the sport
F Sig.
Social 0.546 0.651
Quality of Game 12.216 0.000
Escape 1.503 0.213
Boredom Avoidance 1.579 0.194
Entertainment 1.725 0.161
Sport Atmosphere 3.898 0.009

Table 9: Tukey HSD Post-Hoc Test for the quality of game and sport atmosphere
motives for the number of years of following the sport
Motives (I) Number of (J) Number of Sig.
Years Following Years Following
Quality of Game 1-3 years 4-6 years .000
7-10 years .000
More than 10 .011
years
4-6 years 1-3 years .000
7-10 years .515
More than 10 .654
years
7-10 years 1-3 years .000
4-6 years .515
More than 10 .989
 years
More than 10 1-3 years .011
years 4-6 years .654
7-10 years .989
Sport Atmosphere 1-3 years 4-6 years .328
7-10 years .985
More than 10 .009
years
4-6 years 1-3 years .328
7-10 years .782
More than 10 .099
years
7-10 years 1-3 years .985
4-6 years .782
More than 10 .032
years
More than 10 1-3 years .009
years 4-6 years .099
7-10 years .032

Based on Table 8, significant differences were found in the quality of game

motives (F = 12.216, (df = 382), p <0.05) and sport atmosphere motives (F = 3.389, (df
= 382), p < 0.05) among the number of years following the sport. However, there were
no significant differences found in the social, escape, boredom avoidance and
entertainment motives.

Based on Table 9, significant differences were found between the 1-3 years and
4-6 years of following the sport (p = 0.000), 1-3 years and 7-10 years of following the
sport (p = 0.000), 1-3 years and more than 10 years of following the sport (p = 0.011)
for the quality of game motive. In addition, significant differences were also found
between 1-3 years and more than 10 years of following the sport (p = 0.009), 7-10 years
and more than 10 years of following the sport (p = 0.032) for the sport atmosphere .

Therefore, quality of game and sport atmosphere motives are rejected from the
hypothesis whereas social, escape, boredom avoidance and entertainment are accepted.

SUMMARY
i. The study found that college students’ favourite sport is badminton.
ii. The study found that college students’ favourite athlete is Lee Chong Wei.
iii. The study found that college students’ favourite sports team is Manchester
United.
 iv. The study found that the quality of game and entertainment motives shows
significant differences between genders
v. The study found that the quality of game motive shows a significant difference
among the different races.
vi. The study found that no significant difference for all sport fan motives among
the different age groups.
vii. The study found that social motive among the different levels of education
shows a significant difference.
viii. The study found that quality of game and sport atmosphere motives shows
significant differences with the number of years of following the sport.

RECOMMENDATION
Future research regarding sports fan motivation among working individuals
could be interesting. By in dept the knowledge about the motivation factors of being a
sport fan among the working individual would help to increase ticket sales, merchandise
sale and many more because these individuals have the income to do so.

In conclusion, sports fan motivation is an important socio-psychological

perspective in expanding the sporting industry regardless in Malaysia or abroad.
Therefore, this study is a small contribution to the number of available literatures in this
area.
REFERENCES

Al-Thibiti, Y. (2004). A scale development for sport fan motivation [Doctoral dissertation,
The Florida State University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
https://www.proquest.com/openview/abcfe536cbd94305ec6542f3c5cfb18f/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Da Silva, E. C., & Las Casas, A. L. (2017). Sport fans as consumers: An approach to sport
marketing. British Journal of Marketing Studies, 5(4), 36-48.

Department of Statistic Malaysia (2018, 29 January). Economic Census 2016: Tourism

Statistics. Retrieve from
https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/
cthemeByCat&cat=448&bul_id=VmZsbTU4NDlFcFZRdVF6ZDF3OW4zZz09&menu_id=b
0pIV1E3RW40VWRTUkZocEhyZ1pLUT09

Funk, D. C., Filo, K., Beaton, A. A., & Pritchard, M. (2009). Measuring the Motives of Sport
Event Attendance: Bridging the Academic-Practitioner Divide to Understanding
Behavior. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 18(3).

Mahidin, M.U. (2019, 27 March). The Value of Gross Output in Arts, Entertainment and
Recreation Services grew by 5.7 per cent in 2017. Retrieve from
https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/
cthemeByCat&cat=458&bul_id=bnVsTGJIdHlkS3ZIbXNkNFJKQW4zUT09&menu_id=b0
pIV1E3RW40VWRTUkZocEhyZ1pLUT09

Nielsen Sports (2018). World Football Report 2018. Retrieved from

https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/world-football-report-2018.pdf

Nielsen Sport (2019). Game Changer: Rethinking Sports Experiences for Generation Z.
Retrieved from https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/12/game-changer-
gen-z-sports-report-2019.pdf

Nielsen Sports (2020, September 2). Nielsen Fan Insights Expands Coverage in Asia, Makes
Fan Behaviour Data Available for 26 Markets Worldwide. Retrieved from
https://nielsensports.com/nielsen-fan-insights-expands-coverage-in-asia-makes-fan-behavior-
data-available-for-26-markets-worldwide/

Paek, B., Morse, A., Hutchinson, S., & Lim, C. H. (2021). Examining the relationship for
sport motives, relationship quality, and sport consumption intention. Sport Management
Review, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2020.04.003

Popa, A., & Yusof, A. (2011). An examination of sport watching behaviours of students at
Universiti Putra Malaysia. World Applied Sciences Journal, 15(1), 78-83.
Popa, A., Yusof, A., Shah, P. M., & Geok, S. K. (2013). Sport spectatorship motives of
Malaysian university students. International Journal of Sport Studies, 3(2), 199-204.

Pradhan, D., Malhotra, R., & Moharana, T. R. (2020). When fan engagement with sports club
brands matters in sponsorship: influence of fan–brand personality congruence. Journal of
Brand Management, 27(1), 77-92. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-019-00169-3

Roberts, A., Roche, N., Jones, C., & Munday, M. (2016). What is the value of a Premier
League football club to a regional economy?. European Sport Management Quarterly, 16(5),
575-591. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2016.1188840