The Factors Influencing Fans’ Attendance at Football Matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This quantitative study investigates factors that affect fans’ attendance at football stadiums to watch Saudi Premier League (SPL) football matches. We adopted the comparative quantitative research method to compare the significance of the factors, which affect fans’ attendance at the football stadiums. Data was collected through a questionnaire. The research was carried out on a sample of 1,506 participants. The factors which have the most effect on fans’ attendance are the facilities and services offered by the stadiums and the fact that the seats are not numbered. However, in the case of SPL, external factors have the most impact on the fans’ lack of attendance at stadiums in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) including the fact that the matches are televised and the lack of commitment of fans to their favourite teams of SPL. This research also concludes that SPL organisers need to add glamour to SPL events by associating the branding of the league with overseas sporting brands, thereby attracting male fans to these events and improving fan attendance through the use of televised media and online and social media, which would help increase accessibility to fans.