Ching-Wei Ho¹, Yu-Bing Wang^1,, Yu-Xiang Xu¹

The evolution of cheerleading in Taiwan's baseball culture has gradually become integrated into the lives of fans. Today, fans no longer attend baseball games solely due to their attraction to players, teams, or game content. Instead, they may attend games for other reasons, such as cheerleaders, theme days, and other factors that contribute to the overall game experience. Consequently, when the debate arises about whether cheerleaders or players should take center stage on the field, the topic of this study emerges. This research aims to understand the impact of considering "cheerleaders" and "players" as commodities. Specifically, it seeks to investigate how introducing player knowledge and cheerleader involvement separately affects team image. Furthermore, it intends to explore whether player knowledge, cheerleader involvement, and team image separately influence fans' willingness to purchase tickets for games. Lastly, the study aims to determine whether team image acts as a mediator in the relationships between player knowledge and ticket purchase intent, as well as between cheerleader involvement and ticket purchase intent. Methods: This study focuses on fans of various teams within the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) as the survey participants. A total of 429 valid questionnaires were analyzed. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 24.0 and SmartPLS 4. The analysis methods employed in this study include descriptive statistics, reliability, and the use of a variety of methods including descriptive statistics, reliability and validity analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), and mediation analysis, to achieve the research objectives. Results: 1. There is a positive relationship between player knowledge and cheerleader involvement with team image that directly influences fans' willingness to purchase tickets. However, increasing the level of cheerleader involvement does not have an impact on the willingness to purchase tickets. 2. Player knowledge and team image have a positive relationship with the willingness to purchase tickets. 3. Cheerleader involvement does not have a positive relationship with the willingness to purchase tickets. 4. Team image acts as a mediator in the relationship between player knowledge and the willingness to purchase tickets. Conclusions: 1. When fans increase their knowledge about the players, and when the team enhances its own image, it directly influences fans' willingness to purchase tickets. However, increasing the level of cheerleader involvement does not have an impact on the willingness to purchase tickets. 2. When fans increase the level of cheerleader involvement or their knowledge about the players, it does affect fans' perception of the team's image. 3. Player knowledge does not necessarily require mediation, while cheerleader involvement does require mediation. Both can indirectly affect the willingness to purchase tickets through the team's image.

player knowledge, cheerleader involvement, team image, willingness to purchase tickets