Wild Watching:
Fans' Reaction to Televised Sports
in a Movie Theater
Michael D. Dorsher, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
mdorsher@uwec.edu
Abstract
• How do fans like watching a sporting event telecast in
a movie theater compared to watching similar games:
– live in the arena
– on TV at home
– on TV at a bar or restaurant?
• 190 respondents at two National Hockey League
telecasts in a movie theater completed my survey.
• The data support six of the eight hypotheses.
– In summary, male and female fans alike preferred watching
hockey on TV in a movie theater over everywhere else—
better even than watching it live in an acclaimed arena.
Literature Review
• Fans have been ―watching‖ live, mediated sporting
events since 1858.
– They then gathered outside Western Union offices for round-
by-round telegraphed reports of prizefights1.
• Since broadcasts started, some fans have preferred
watching sports on TV or listening to them on radio to
actually attending the games2.
• Watching sports is a communal activity that cuts across
class, race, and—increasingly—sex, too3.
• There are no other studies on watching televised sports
in movie theaters.
– But other studies show increased involvement when
watching large-screen televisions4.
Research Questions
1. How do fans like watching hockey
telecast in a movie theater compared
to watching it:
– Live in the arena?
– On TV at home?
– On TV at a bar or restaurant?
2. How will women’s ratings of those
experiences differ from men’s?
Hypotheses
Fans will like watching hockey on
TV in the movie theater:
H1: Better than watching it live in the arena, esp.
considering seat and concession prices.
H2: But not as well as watching it live from the
best seats in the arena.
H3: Better than watching it on TV at home.
H4: Better than watching it on TV in a bar or
restaurant.
Hypotheses
(continued)
Female fans will like watching hockey:
H5: On TV in a movie theater as well as men will.
H6: Live in an arena as well as men will.
H7: On TV in a bar or restaurant as well as men
will.
H8: On TV at home less than men will.
• Based on women’s greater perceived need to
multi-task while at home.
Method
• 190 volunteers completed paper-and-pen surveys
during the May 5 & 8, 2003, telecasts of the
Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks playoff
games at a Minneapolis movie theater.
• Survey comprised 18 questions:
– Seven items rating watching hockey in various
settings on a scale of 1 to 10
– Seven on # of games watched in each setting
– Demographic question on sex of respondent
– Three open-ended questions comparing watching
hockey in various settings
The Survey Site
The Riverview Theater in south Minneapolis
The crowd goes wild as the Wild score.
Results
Fans will like watching hockey on TV in the theater:
H1: Better than watching it live in the arena, esp.
considering seat and concession prices.
– Supported: on 10-point scale, fans rated hockey in the theater
9.37 and in the arena 7.37 overall, p = .0001
H2: Not as well as watching it live in the best arena seats.
– Not supported: 9.37 rating in theater, 8.86 for best arena seats,
p = .058.
H3: Better than watching it on TV at home.
– Supported: 9.37 rating in theater, 5.68 for home, p = .0001
H4: Better than watching it on TV in a bar or restaurant.
– Supported: 9.37 in theater, 4.41in bar or restaurant, p = .0001
Results
Fans like watching hockey telecast in a movie
theater better than attending the game.
Results (continued)
Female fans will like watching hockey:
H5: On TV in a movie theater as well as men will.
– Supported: no significant difference between
women’s and men’s ratings, p = .27
H6: Live in an arena as well as men will.
– Supported, p = .85
H7: On TV in a bar or restaurant as well as men.
– Supported, p = .52
H8: On TV at home less than men will.
– Not supported: no significant difference, p = .68
Conclusions
• Watching televised sports in movie theaters has
the potential to be a gratifying, growing niche.
• Women, in contrast to most other sports
spectatorship experiences in the past, may be
just as drawn to watching sports on TV in movie
theaters as men are.
• Unlike luxury skyboxes and pay-per-view cable,
watching televised games in movie theaters
could return sports to the unifying, class-cutting
social experience that they—and movies—
traditionally have been.
Endnotes
1Lever, J., & Wheeler, S. (1993). Mass media and the
experience of sport. Communication Research, 20(1),
p. 127.
2Ibid., p. 131.
3Real, M. R. (1989). Super media: a cultural studies
approach. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4Lombard, M., Reich, R. D., Grabe, M. E., Bracken, C.
C., & Ditton, T. B. (2000). Presence and television: the
role of screen size. Human Communication Research,
26(1), 75-98. Reeves, B., Lang, A., Kim, E. Y., &
Tatar, D. (1999). The effects of screen size and
message content on attention and arousal. Media
Psychology, 1(1), 49-67.