Date of Graduation

8-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education in Recreation and Sport Management (MEd)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Health, Human Performance and Recreation

Advisor/Mentor

Dittmore, Stephen W.

Committee Member

Gorman, Dean R.

Second Committee Member

Langsner, Stephen

Keywords

Social sciences; College baseball; Host institution; NCAA; Perceived impacts; Sport tourism

Abstract

College athletics is an ever growing industry, particularly the sports of football and basketball. Previous research in college athletics has tended to focus only on these two sports and their economic impacts, disregarding any Social or general negative impacts they may bring with them. The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of students' perceptions of Social, economic and general negative impacts associated with hosting a NCAA baseball regional or super regional on the host campus and community. Hosting NCAA postseason events on campus is rare for many universities, so it is important to study how students perceive the impacts on the community associated with hosting such events. A total of 315 surveys were completed by University of Arkansas students. A series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to examine any differences among students' perceptions. Results revealed that perceptions among students in regards to Social, economic and general negative impacts associated with hosting a regional or super regional varied significantly between demographic groups. The biggest differences in students' perceptions of the impact associated with such an even were dependent on the number of University of Arkansas athletic events the student attends per year. Findings suggest that students agree the local economy will benefit from hosting such an event and that students would be in favor of hosting such an event no matter the Social impacts.

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