Great APBA Fan Survey Results: Who are we?

I’m finally ready to start revealing the data from the Great ABPA Fan Survey!  We had 400 respondents.  I’m quite pleased with the response.

First, a couple things.

Why have multiple choice/yes no questions? Those questions were easily quantifiable and analyzed and easier to graph.  I didn’t want to have too many short answer text questions at first for fear of making the survey too long to fill out.  But Walt Taylor and I talked over email and he (maybe unknowingly) convinced me it would be a good idea.  I’m glad he did.  Sure, the text answers are harder to display in a graph form but they provided an outlet for you to speak out.  They also made the survey more interesting, quite frankly.

Finally, I’m not claiming this survey has any scientific bearing.  I’m no statistician or pollster.  There are inherent flaws in the survey (for example, only those with Internet access could take the survey).  That said, I think this survey does reveal some things about us as an APBA community.

So in the first installment, I’m taking on the General section of the survey.  Who are you?  I wasn’t so much surprised by the general consensus of survey as much as I was by just how much so.  In short, the average APBA fan is over 40 years old and has played since they were young.  They read about APBA in a sports magazine and most likely have tried other tabletop sports games.

Let’s take a look at the first set of questions:

How old are you?

 

image

Answer Count Percentage
under 15 years old 0 0.00%
16-20 0 0.00%
21-30 7 1.75%
31-40 47 11.75%
41-50 98 24.50%
50-60 144 36.00%
I’m old! 89 22.25%

 

How old were you when you first started playing APBA?

 

image

Answer Count Percentage
under 10 years old 38 9.50%
11-20 279 69.75%
20-40 53 13.25%
40-50 7 1.75%
over 50 4 1.00%

 

How long have you played APBA (any APBA product)?

 

image

Answer Count Percentage
1-2 years 7 1.75%
3-5 years 7 1.75%
6-15 years 21 5.25%
15-30 years 92 23.00%
over 30 years 256 64.00%

 

Comments:  taking these first three together, it shows a very loyal if aged, customer base of APBA fans.  I was amazed how many have played APBA for so many years.  In short, many fans have started playing young and kept playing.

 

What introduced you to the game of APBA?

 

image

 
Answer Count Percentage
A friend or relative. 170 42.50%
I saw an ad in a sports magazine. 180 45.00%
I read about it on the web. 7 1.75%
Other 25 6.25%

Comments: The most cited reason in the “Other” field was a “teacher” or “school”.  Probably should have had that as an option.  Thank goodness for the educational system.  Other ones mentioned were:  military, seen in a game/toy store, and read about it in an article/book.

 

Do you play any other sports simulation games such as Strat-o-Matic or Diamond Mind Baseball?

 

image_thumb[5]

Answer Count Percentage
I play APBA occasionally but prefer another game. 35 8.75%
I like playing APBA but do dabble with other games sometimes. 137 34.25%
APBA is the one for me! 208 52.00%

Comments:  No surprise here considering the target audience.  I was just curious how many tried other games.

How often do play sports video games on the computer or a console game system?

 

image

Answer Count Percentage
I play quite often. 46 11.98%
I play occasionally. 141 36.72%
What’s a console game system? 189 49.22%
No answer 8 2.08%

Comments:  This question was a suggestion and again, I’m not too surprised by the results.  There are some who find no satisfaction with the video game genre.  At the same time, there are enough similarities that I figured enough people would admit to playing. 

As time allows (the Illowa APBA League has their draft this weekend), I’ll continue to post results of survey. 

Thomas Nelshoppen

I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA. I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as a frequent participant of the Chicagoland APBA Tournament. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.

3 Comments:

  1. Ralph Forehand

    GREAT SURVEY and very professionally done. I especially like your presentation.

    THANK YOU for all the time and effort it obviously took.

  2. It’s interesting to see most started playing between 11-20 years old, most active players are 30+, and there are limited folks playing under 30. Is this a result of the video game revolution or something else? Besides entertainment, I think APBA games provide educational (reading, reading comp, math,etc) and social value. I enjoy my PC and Xbox games but I’d rather be rolling dice!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.