From Their Eyes to Your Intentions: How First-vs. Third-Person Broadcast Perspective Shapes Sports Viewing Experiences

Digital innovations in sport broadcasting are reshaping consumption by altering visual presentation. Drawing on the Components of User Experience (CUE) model, this research examines how broadcast perspectives (first-person vs. third-person) influence viewers’ perceptions and intentions across contexts. Two online experiments with Chinese adults were conducted via Credamo. Study 1 used MotoGP footage ( N = 400) and Study 2 used soccer footage ( N = 400). Participants viewed a 3-min clip and reported embodiment, presence, perceived ease of use, broadcast effectiveness, flow, imagery fluency, viewing intention, and attendance intention, with sport involvement as a moderator. First-person perspective increased embodiment and presence, whereas third-person enhanced broadcast effectiveness and ease of use (soccer). Presence, ease of use, and effectiveness, but not embodiment, predicted flow and imagery fluency. Both responses predicted continuous viewing intention in both studies. Imagery fluency predicted attendance intention in both studies, whereas flow did so only in Study 1. Sport involvement moderated several perspective effects, but not uniformly across outcomes or studies. Findings inform perspective-based broadcast design and audience segmentation.