Rating Rivalries in Intercollegiate Athletics Cody T. Havard The University of Memphis

Rating Rivalries What makes a rivalry?  Proximity, historical and comparative competition. Kilduff, Elfenbein, & Staw, 2010  Competition, proximity, on-field or off-field incidents, demographic make up, historical occurrences. Havard, Gray, Gould, Sharp, & Schaffer, 2013 What increases the intensity of a rivalry?  Promotion, fan interest What is the most intense fan rivalry in intercollegiate athletics?  Depends on who you ask.

Most Intense Rivalries Examples from popular culture

Most Intense Rivalries Perception of Intensity One persons perspective Little data to show intensity of fan rivalry

Rating Rivalries 2500 data points on teams identified as “rival”. Sport Rivalry Fan Perception Scale (SRFPS: Havard et al., 2013). 1.Number of rivals per school. 2.Aggregate score assigned to rival school. 3.Common Rivalry Score 225 Combinations  62 Intercollegiate Teams

SRFPS 12-item scale that measures  Out-group Indirect Competition (OIC) –I would support the rival in a championship game.  Out-Group Academic Prestige (OAP) –The academic prestige of the rival is poor.  Out-Group Sportsmanship (OS) –Fans of the rival are not well-behaved at games.  Sense of Satisfaction (SoS) –I feel a sense of belonging when my favorite team beats the rival. –7-Point Likert Scale

1 – Number of Rivals

Rivalry can increase likelihood to consume sport product.

1 – Number of Rivals

1 – Rival to Most

1 – Lost in Translation Syracuse – Identified 11 rivals (6 in conference), identified by 1 (0 in conference) Nebraska – Identified 9 rivals (5 in conference), identified by 6 (3 in conference) West Virginia – Identified 7 rivals (1 in conference), identified by 2 (0 in conference) Texas A&M – Identified 3 rivals (2 in conference), identified by 3 (0 in conference) Arizona – Identified 8 rivals (7 in conference), identified by 2 (2 in conference)

2 – Most Intense Fan Rivalries

3 – Most Intense Common Rivalries If two teams identified each other as rivals At least 3 participants per team

3 – Most Intense Common Rivalries

Implications Way to display rival intensity Athletic Departments  Focus on identified rival teams  Foster relationship with rival teams Athletic Conferences  Out-of-Conference required play  Impact on conference make up Television Revenue  Tournaments and events

Future Study Add to database  Work on those n’s Measure longitudinal trends  Time stamps Investigate differences between rivalries

Thank you! Cody T. Havard, Ph.D.