Women's volleyball demand across different distribution channels

Research question: In this study, we add to the slowly emerging literature on modeling the demand for women's sports by exploring the robustness of the determinants for women's volleyball–previously a largely neglected team sport–across three different distribution channels, i.e. online streaming, TV broadcasts, and the stadium experience. Research methods: We exploit a data set containing information on consumer interest in the German Women's Volleyball League (VBL) in 2019. In line with the literature on modeling consumer interest in sports, we estimate on-/offline audiences and spectator demand, in terms of semi-elasticity, by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions. Results: We find that volleyball demand is relatively stable across two of the three distribution channels (i.e. online streaming and TV broadcasts) and, to a lesser degree, the stadium experience. This pattern is particularly problematic for a niche sport's online streaming offerings that, often initiated with high hopes, seem to attract only a fraction of the otherwise relatively strong consumer interest in the sport's TV offerings. Implications: While we believe that future research is well-advised to add nuance to the analysis of (women’s) sports demand across different distribution channels, our results also suggest that sporting bodies should carefully weigh the pros and cons of an exclusively online distribution strategy.