Stadium atmosphere: scale development and validation in Indian context

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a scale for stadium atmosphere in the Indian context. This is considered as a key area for sports managers, as stadium attendance contributes toward the teams revenues. Moreover, while the importance of environment is well-established in the marketing literature, stadium atmosphere has received limited attention. Design/methodology/approach – Through qualitative and quantitative studies in five different phases, a 14-item four-dimension stadium atmosphere scale was developed that included physical layout, facility aesthetics, entertainment experience and social interaction. Findings – The stadium atmosphere scale developed in this study demonstrates sound psychometric properties based on various reliability and validity tests as well as scale replications using different samples. Practical implications – The stadium atmosphere scale developed will be of particular use for sports marketers and management. It could be inferred that the stadium managers could expect high spectator attendance and satisfaction by focusing on stadium atmosphere factors such as the accessibility of seats and allocation of seat spaces, stadium architecture, the game characteristics and the attitudes and behaviors of stadium employees during live games. Originality/value – The present study addresses a key gap identified in the sports marketing and management area. The study adds to the conceptual understanding of the stadium atmosphere construct and empirically demonstrates the measurement scale for the construct.