Smartphones have a significant impact on the behavior of sports enthusiasts

Mobile media is changing games in entertainment, sports content and communications. For example, according to NBA.com, YouTube TV's 2019 NBA Finals is open to sports fans in 215 countries in 150 languages on TV, computers, smartphones and tablets.

The relationship between sports consumption and smartphones has a significant impact on fan behavior and engagement.Along with the telecom professor at the University of Florida School of Journalism and Communication, he began a survey of smartphones in sports fans’ media consumption journeys. This area of research may help explain and predict the future of sports consumption associated with smartphone use. The study will be published in the "Sports Marketing Quarterly".

The authors said: "This study explores the impact of sports consumption on smartphones from the perspective of motivation, media and media types." Previous studies have found that the psychological and behavioral activities of fans and media consumption are interrelated.

The study was conducted through an online survey of 615 respondents who watched regularly, read or listened to sports-related content. In their survey, they included the Sports Consumption Motivation Scale (MSSC), which consisted of the following eight structures: achievement, aesthetics, knowledge acquisition, drama, escapism, social interaction, physical attractiveness, and physical skills.

The study found that the convenience of smartphone sports consumption has helped the platform compete with other media such as TV fans. The authors found that among all the incentives for consumption, knowledge acquisition is the only important predictor of smartphone consumption sports. According to the study, "smart phones are a different type of sports media that provide targeted information and purposeful social interaction." Essentially, the main consumer goal of smartphone users is to collect information.

Other media such as television, radio, newspapers, online, streaming video and social media seem to be more substantive than sports fans when determining smartphone sports consumption. In fact, the study found that web and streaming video also affects the use of smartphones, and the positive role of the radio reflects its ability to provide highly relevant content that can be accessed via a smartphone. However, there is a negative relationship between newspapers and smartphone sports consumption, which indicates that fan usage has shifted from print to digital. The negative correlation between TV and smartphone sports consumption indicates that consumers prefer a shared or personalized screen experience.