Examining Spectators’ Expectations of the Service Quality Provided in Basketball Stadiums in Greece: A Preliminary Survey

The aim of this study was to examine the spectators’ expectations of the services provided in basketball stadiums where the professional teams of Northern Greece play. The most desirable aspects of service provided in Greek basketball stadiums were also examined. Five hundred spectators from five basketball stadiums of Northern Greece filled in the evaluation instrument proposed by Choo (1998) and modified so that to fit in the Greek standards. The exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis revealed six expectation factors which explained 66,02% of the total variance: i) “show time”, ii) “staff”, iii) “comfort”, iv) “installation”, v) “luxury” and vi) “information”. The variables used for the purpose of this study seem to be appropriate for measuring spectators’ expectations of the service quality provided in sport installations but they need further research. It is unquestionable that the challenge of providing a high quality sport and recreation service becomes less difficult when sport managers know what their customers think of the provided service and what they feel is important to quality.