Do TV viewers value uncertainty of outcome? Evidence from the Australian Football League

Despite many studies investigating the relationship between match uncertainty and the demand for sport (in particular, attendance), the evidence is mixed. Even fewer studies have focused on TV audiences as an important segment of the consumer market. This paper bridges this gap by testing the uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis on television viewing of Australian Football League games. After controlling for plausible influences on TV ratings of match broadcasts, it is shown that greater television audience demand is strongly associated with higher match uncertainty at all conventional levels of statistical significance.