Paying the way: the ticket to gender equality in sports

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  August, 2004  by Michelle R. Hebl,  Traci A. Giuliano,  Eden B. King,  Jennifer L. Knight,  Jenessa R. Shapiro,  Jeanine L. Skorinko,  Anjali Wig

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Finally, and most importantly, Study 2 is limited by its design. Participants only read information regarding the price of a ticket to a woman's game, but not comparative information about the price of a ticket to a men's game. In many instances, individuals will be cognizant not only of the price of admission to a women's game but also of the price of admission to a men's game. Whereas we found that there were no significant absolute differences in value attributed to athletic teams based on the price of a ticket, there may well be differences in value that vary dependent on relative information. Thus, in Study 3 we considered the evaluation of women's teams as the price of attendance to a women's game differed relative to the corresponding men's team prices. After reviewing the prices of both men's and women's teams, participants in Study 3 listened to and rated an actual game. In this way we replicated and extended the results of Study 2.

STUDY 3

Method

Participants

A total of 82 participants (43 women, 39 men), 70% of whom were European American, 11% Asian, 10% Hispanic, and 6% African American, from a large, public university in the Southwest took part in this study. Of the 82 participants, six women and seven men responded incorrectly to a manipulation check. Thus, the analyses are based on the responses of 69 participants.

Design

As part of a one-way between-subjects design, we manipulated the ticket prices so that: (a) both teams' prices were equal ($9 each), (b) the men's game was more expensive ($14) than the women's game ($4), or (c) the women's game was more expensive ($14) than the men's game ($4). These prices were derived from the averages of the NCAA ticket prices for men's and women's teams found in Study 1. Participants were randomly assigned to one of these conditions using a randomization Javascript[R] code. To ensure that the prices would be salient to participants, the ticket prices were displayed as animated (flashing) graphics.

Procedure

Participants logged onto a website, read a statement of informed consent, and clicked "I Consent" to begin the study. On the following webpage, participants were led to believe that they were to provide their initial impression of a student basketball announcer who had auditioned for a sports announcing job. After reading this cover story, participants were instructed to try to remember all the information presented. Next, they viewed a fictitious basketball team's (the Smithville Bearcats) homepage that had both the men's and women's teams season information--including their win/loss records, the dates of the next games, and ticket prices for the games.

Materials

After reviewing this background information, participants listened to a 3-min audio clip from the first half of a recent Lady Bearcats basketball game. All participants heard the same audio clip. The transcript for the game was taken from the last few minutes of an actual Division I 2002 playoffs game. The game was transcribed and re-recorded using a volunteer male announcer, because most announcers are men. All gender identifying information was deleted from the game transcript (e.g., "he shoots") and replaced with the player's last name (e.g., "Moore shoots"). In addition, all authentic names of the players were changed.