Against all odds? Exploring the role of game outcome uncertainty in season ticket holders' stadium attendance demand

In this study we investigate the important but rather ambiguous role of game outcome uncertainty (GOU) in consumers' demand for professional sports. Specifically, using a unique and strongly balanced panel data set containing information on individual physical attendance from 13,892 season ticket holders (STHs) of a German professional football club, we find evidence for a positive effect of GOU on two differing spectator decisions - both the decision to physically attend a game in the stadium and the decision on what time to enter the stadium, an aspect which has so far been neglected in the literature. Moreover, GOU seems to play an especially important role in the decision-making of one particular group: STHs with comparatively high coordination costs.