Análisis del mercado:

In the study, new curlers were asked about the relationship between trying the sport and seeing it on television. Participant responses varied. For some, this influence was weak or non- existent. Others were inspired by television coverage to try the sport. Also, participants who watch elite curling make a distinction between Olympic and non-Olympic events such as the Brier (Canadian men’s curling championship), the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian women’s curling championship), and the world championships.

Some participants lack television access. For Grace, living without a television has shaped her elite curling viewership: “[It is] pretty safe to say that if I have [viewed elite curling], it’s pretty minimal. Not in any significant fashion. Though I do listen to the radio a lot.”

Despite lacking access to a television, Grace does have a general understanding of curling and its place in Canadian society: “I’m aware of what’s going on in the world. And I think I was aware that curling’s a pretty cool sport that more people than we realize do it. And that a lot of people like it. So there was an awareness that its popularity and the Canadian success and it’s profile…” Thus Grace gained her curling knowledge from non-television sources.

Susan also does not have television access.

To be honest, I have spent several periods of my life either living outside of Canada or living within Canada without a television. … So television watching isn’t … Like a priority anyway and isn’t really necessarily like how I think about my life. I’m sure I’ve watched curling in the Olympics ‘cause I generally try to find a television at that time when the Olympics are on.

Susan says her brother-in-law introduced her to watching curling on television. “Well we would go away skiing all of us together and about the time curling was on. So, we watched [curling] on TV. It’d be something he’d want to watch.”

Despite her limited viewing of televised curling, Susan knows about Canadian curling: “‘Cause there’s that Scotties Tournament and the Brier. … Even ages ago that got some coverage on TSN.” Grace and Susan’s knowledge of the sport, despite limited television exposure, speaks volumes of the place curling holds in Canadian society.

Some participants start curling without ever (or rarely) watching it on television. Susan summarizes how televised curling shaped her sport introduction: “Not so much. No. My

influences were elsewhere.” As discussed in the experiencing the league theme, participants start curling for diverse reasons. Thus, television is only one influence drawing people to the sport.

Some participants are influenced by televised curling to try the sport, while others are drawn to curling for other reasons. Rose explains her motivation to start curling: “I’ve always known and I’ve always been exposed to it or aware of it if you will from TV, competition, that type of stuff. But, never really known anybody who’s played. I just figured on my own. That’s it.” When asked whether viewing televised curling specifically influenced her intention to curl, Rose answers: “Not at all. That was a simple answer.”

Bob says his viewing of televised curling did not draw him to try the sport. “[I watched] Olympic curling, but it had no, no bearing on my willingness to register. It was just my little bit of exposure to the sport…”

Instead, it was the Shaw club’s level of organization that attracted Bob to curling. “I joined after looking at what was done … I could have gone to the Evergreen Centre … For me, joining the Shaw club was the organization itself. I could have gone to the Evergreen Centre, even the Hillview…”

Bob believes that watching curling on television does not draw people to try the sport. “Some people say the Olympics is an inspiration to join it. I can’t see it. Personally … it may lead to an increased number of registrations after the Olympics, ‘Okay, I’ll take your word for it, but I can’t really see it.’”

However, watching the sport on television shaped Tony’s curling intentions.

…I’ve watched curling for a number of years … I really have wanted to start curling for a number of years now. … I mean it goes back to probably; I probably started watching curling 25 years ago. So it would have been, in those days, the only thing that would have been televised would have been, either the Brier or the World Championship. … It’s not the type of sport that was on every weekend. And I didn’t watch it that frequently. But I certainly got a taste for it.

Tony’s story illustrates how one’s interest in a sport can be sustained for many years before they take it up.

Other participants also report being inspired to curl after viewing televised curling. Cathy says her decision to start curling coincided with the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. “I started to play with the Northampton Sport and Social Club [NSSC] around the time of the Vancouver

Olympics. That’s when I started watching curling. It came hand-in-hand, I’m sure. … I definitely remember watching the Olympics, ya.”

Frances also was drawn to curling after watching television coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics:

…So the last Winter Olympics … in Vancouver, there was a woman on the Canadian Olympic curling team who was five months pregnant and my law school buddies and I thought that was so cool that like this was like probably the most feminist sport out there. You could do it at any stage of your life and not only just do in a half-assed kind of way, but do it at such a professional and high level. We thought that was so amazing. So we got together, about seven feminist law students … We called ourselves the “Hail Mary’s” and we got sweatshirts and everything and we joined like an adult recreational league.

Frances was further inspired after viewing television coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Frances was motivated to advance her curling career after watching Olympic curling

gold medalist Jennifer Jones compete. That is when she progressed from the NSSC to the Redwood club’s learn-to-curl league. Frances explains:

But it was really just seeing that woman who curled on the Canadian Olympic Team. That was so inspirational. And then to see the next, I mean just kept fueling the fire; The last Olympics when Jennifer Jones was the skip. I mean she’s a lawyer and a pro curler. I mean I feel like anything is possible. … And she’s like a single business owner or she’s like a partner in a law firm? So she’s basically self-employed and I think she must be a really kick-ass like can-do kind of person.

Frances says Jones inspires her:

…Jennifer Jones is a real inspiration and that was something that I think about every time: she’s somebody that every time I’m curling it, I think it’s just like I happened to find out about her. Like I probably wouldn’t have cared as much about her specifically had she not been a lawyer and personally identified with that.

The role that televised curling plays in attracting new curlers differs. It ranges from having no influence to being a major course of inspiration and motivation. This discussion adds nuance to our understanding of how the media influences introductory sport experiences for new curlers and may provide important lessons for future leveraging initiatives. Furthermore, many participants differentiate between Olympic curling and annual non-Olympic events (the Brier, Scotties, and World Championship), all of which receive television and other media exposure. Next, our attention shifts to the specific leveraging initiatives employed by both clubs beginning with the Redwood Curling Club.