Value of Professional Sport Teams in the Community: Reexamining the Measurement Properties of the Community Impact Scale

Abstract

The Community Impact Scale was developed by Zhang et al. (1996) to measure essential value dimensions of professional sports in the community. The original scale includes 45 items under eight factors (Community Solidarity, Public Behavior, Social Equity, Pastime Ecstasy, Health Awareness, Individual Quality, Excellence Pursuit, and Business Opportunity). To further ensure its usefulness for theoretical and practical applications, this study re-examined measurement properties of the scale through conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Research participants (N = 349) were residents of three major metropolitan areas, who responded to a survey in various community settings. With some modifications and eliminations of items, the CFA revealed that the eight-factor model with 32 items provided a good fit to the data (e.g., RMSEA = .060; SRMR = .053; CFI =.910). The resolved scale also displayed good convergent and discriminant validity, as well as internal consistency. Discussions are made with respect to the merits of the scale and its research applications in addressing social, political, marketing, and financing issues of professional sport teams.