Case Study: College Football Intercept Surveys

The following post recaps a case study of a market research project completed for a sports marketing research company. Drive Research conducted intercept surveys at 5 college football stadiums across the country over a 5-week time period. On-site intercept surveys are an ideal methodology to collect in-the-moment feedback from attendees, fans, and event goers.

For more information about the objectives, approach, and outcomes of the stadium intercepts, read about our case study on the project below.

college football intercept surveys drive research

Drive Research was touring the eastern half of the U.S. in October and November completing surveys for a sports marketing research company.


Objectives

Drive Research was engaged as the market research company to manage the intercept surveys at college football stadiums across the country. The client wanted to better understand the awareness of in-stadium advertising, perceptions of the advertising, and impact the advertising has on the image of the sponsor.

The market research was used to guide marketing and strategic decisions for the client. The intercepts surveys aimed to better quantify the ROI of the advertising in-stadium. There is no better way to assess this than through a blinded survey with those who attend the college football games. Recall is most accurate when it is asked immediately after an experience.


Approach

To address the objectives at-hand, Drive Research conducted on-site intercept surveys at each of the football stadiums across the country. This included:

1. Syracuse, NY on October 13 (Syracuse vs. Clemson)

2. Tallahassee, FL on October 21 (Florida St. versus Louisville)

3. Lawrence, KS on October 28 (Kansas vs. Kansas St.)

4. Athens, GA on November 4 (Georgia vs. South Carolina)

5. Columbus, OH on November 11 (Ohio St. vs. Michigan St.)

Interviewers intercepted fans at the stadium and asked them a quick survey which took approximately 3 to 5 minutes. The survey was designed by the client but it was programmed by Drive Research. The surveys were self-administered via tablets.

All tablets used an offline survey app so no access to WiFi or satellite networks was required. This can often be an issue with network overload at large events. For more information about offline surveys, read our blog post here.

Drive Research is a stadium intercept survey company.

A specific team of local interviewers were recruited for each of the 5 college football stadiums. An on-site team leader and project manager was assigned to manage the team of interviewers. All interviewers were trained on the process and survey script prior to the interviews beginning.


Outcomes

Although the results remain confidential with the sports marketing research company and the advertising client, Drive Research can provide an overview of some of the core topics covered in the intercept surveys.

Drive Research addressed the following topics for the client:

  1. Interest in other sports at the college or university
  2. Awareness of brands as sponsors of college football
  3. Brands that have the most presence at football games
  4. Specific awareness of the advertiser sponsoring the research
  5. Source(s) of awareness for the advertiser
  6. Perception of the advertiser based on the marketing
  7. Impact of advertisements on feelings about the sponsor
  8. Demographics of survey takers

The results were used to help educate the client on marketing ROI and strategic placement of advertisements at each of the colleges or universities.


Contact Our Sports Marketing Research Company

Drive Research is a stadium intercept survey company and sports marketing research company located in Upstate New York. Our portfolio of clients and work spans across the United States.

Interested in receiving a proposal or quote from our market research company?

Send us an email at [email protected], call us at 315-303-2040, or contact us on our website.

Intercept Surveys