The Effect of Team Record on Fan Loyalty in the National Football League

摘要

The paper explores the relationship between a team's performance in the National Football League (NFL) in terms of win and loss records and fan loyalty. It examines to what extent winning matters in order to sustain fan loyalty and what is therefore the incentive for the owners and players to improve a team's performance. This research uses computer data mining and predictive modelling techniques through JAVA Programming to answer this question. Linear and Quadratic regression analysis are undertaken to see if the results differ for teams with a winning versus a losing record. The contribution of this paper is to establish that fan attendance at home games can be significantly improved by the winning record of the team.