Does cross‐border broadcast of foreign football change the demand pattern of domestic recreation?

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate Nigeria's audiovisual services import demand using foreign football transmitted through digital satellite television (DSTV) as a case study. The major focus is on whether such imports effectively replace local recreation in watching domestic football.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined descriptive statistics. The methodology employed is a combination of descriptive analysis and cross‐sectional regression.FindingsThe paper's analytical framework establishes a link between the conventional import demand and demand for football functions, while the estimated empirical counterpart found that the demand for foreign football via cross‐border satellite transmission is a statistically significant function of taste for foreign football, quality, and entertainment. While descriptive statistics indicate respondents’ preference for foreign football, the test of significance rejected the hypothesis that the demand for foreign football broadcast service imports has replaced demand for domestic football as an entertaining sport. In addition, the demand for foreign football broadcast is fairly inelastic, as a greater percentage of the respondents will watch foreign football even if the cost of subscription or cost of paying per view in the viewing centers increase.Originality/valueThe paper describes the first of this type of research to be conducted in Nigeria.

Viewing the Game Textually: Online Consumption of Live Text Commentary as Alternate Spectatorship Among Nigerian Football Fans

“…This study clarified that Nigerian fans were more likely to access live text commentary to follow matches of European football leagues more than those of the domestic football league in Nigeria. This finding is consistent with earlier studies (e.g., Adeyemi & Kola, 2017;Bankole et al, 2012;Onwumechili & Oloruntola, 2014) which have reported an inclination among Nigerian football fans to identify with and prefer televised viewership of European football leagues (particularly the major leagues of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France) over the country's domestic league. This suggests a low interest in the Nigerian football league.…”

“…Qualitative studies have employed football viewing centers in Nigeria as a setting to explore, for instance, the teasing patterns in the interactions among fans (Adetunji, 2013), how age norms shape social relations among fans (Adebayo et al, 2017), and the conflict tendencies from football fanaticism (Dogari, Apuke, & Idi, 2018; Majaro-Majesty, 2011). In a quantitative study, Bankole, Olaniyan, Babatunde, and Nghargbu (2012) established that the demand for cross-border satellite television in Nigeria is significantly driven by a preference for foreign football. Onwumechili and Oloruntola (2014) found that heavy consumption of transnational media translates to positive identification with European football leagues among Nigerian football fans.…”