To gain a better understanding of exactly who these fans are, two Mississippi State researchers and a group of graduate students recently traveled to a Jackson match. Led by Drs. Andy Gillentine and Clay L. Daughtrey, this scientific tag-team polled ticket buyers to learn more about wrestling fans' consumer habits and the reasons they so love wrestling. Gillentine and Daughtrey are assistant professors in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Sport. They, along with 17 graduate students in the department's sports administration program, completed more than 350 surveys in the first on-site data collection conducted for World Championship Wrestling.
Wrestling does both well.
Owned by media mogul Ted Turner, WCW is based in Atlanta. We want to find out why fans are so attracted to this sport. Initial impressions generated by the MSU survey indicate that the Jackson crowd included a high number of return customers, many with high purchasing power. Wrestling does a great job of creating a high level of fan interest, and we're letting students experience that firsthand. Future research opportunities may include additional demographic surveys and student internships in the WCW's own research department.