Date of Award

12-2025

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology

Department

Information and Decision Sciences

First Reader/Committee Chair

Shayo, Conrad

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic struck swiftly around the world, causing several societal functions and normalcies to adapt or shut down completely. This culminating project explores the effects of COVID-19 on arena fan attendance of the National Hockey League (NHL). This project was guided by the following three research questions: Q1 – How did the NHL arena closures affect fan attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic? Q2 – What factors influenced NHL fan arena attendance before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Q3 – What factors impacted the NHL arena fan attendance after the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic? An empirical model developed in previous studies was adapted to fit this study, and multilinear regression analysis with two models was used to answer questions 2 and 3. The data collected spanned 7 seasons (2017-2024) from 32 NHL teams and included attendance numbers, and the following on-field factors: stadium capacity, shots per game, goals for per game (goals scored by home team), points percentage, major penalties, and hits per 60 minutes.

The findings were: Q1 – Comparisons of seasons that occurred before (2017-19), during (2020-21), and post pandemic (2022-24) showed that arena fan attendance severely decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic and has experienced a record-breaking increase in the 2023-24 season. Q2 – The findings in the first model, Model 1, showed that the factors analyzed had a minimal and somewhat inconclusive effect on arena attendance prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Points percentage, goals for per game, shots per game, major penalties, hits per 60 minutes all had high p-values and could not be considered significant. Arena capacity was the one factor in this model that showed a potential minor effect. Q3 – The results in the second model, Model 2, showed that arena capacity had a significant impact on arena attendance rates in the post-pandemic seasons. Areas for further study include: (1) A similar analysis using alternate factors, such as ticket prices and overall team wins, to explore their effect on fan attendance in the years before and after the pandemic. (2) A similar analysis of other major league sports such as the Premier League, La Liga, and Indian Premier League. (3) Further analysis into fighting in the NHL and its influence on fan attendance in comparison to other sports where fighting is allowed.

Download

  Contact Author

Share

COinS