We examine the relationship between attendance, uncertainty of outcome, and team quality in the National Hockey League. Based on results from a reduced form model of attendance at 6054 regular season NHL games from 2005/06 to 2009/10, we find evidence that attendance increases when fans expect...

An empirical examination of the determinants of real per capita income in cities with professional sports teams from 1969 to 1997 shows that postseason appearances are not associated with any change in the level of real per capita income in these cities. However, in the city that is home to the...

This paper investigates the relationship between professional sports franchises and venues and real per capita personal income in 37 standard metropolitan statistical areas in the United States over the period 1969 to 1994. Our empirical framework accounts for the entry and departure of...

type="main" xml:lang="en" <p>We develop a consumer choice model of live attendance at a sporting event with reference-dependent preferences. The predictions of the model motivate the “uncertainty of outcome hypothesis” (UOH) as well as fans' desire to see upsets and to simply see the home team...</p>

We examine the relationship between game day attendance, uncertainty of outcome, and team and facility quality in the National Football League. Based on results from a reduced form model of game day attendance at 5,495 regular season NFL games from the 1985-2008 seasons, we find weak evidence...

We analyze the relationship between attendance, outcome uncertainty, and team quality in the National Hockey League (NHL). Based on the results from a reduced form model of attendance at 6,054 regular season NHL games from 2005-2006 to 2009-2010, we find evidence that attendance increases when...

We check the robustness of Feldstein’s finding that Social Security reduces private saving to two specifications not considered before in the literature: (1) constraining the coefficients on Social Security and household net worth to be equal; and (2) allowing the effect of wealth on...

Local political and community leaders and the owners of professional sports teams frequently claim that professional sports facilities and franchises are important engines of economic development in urban areas. These structures and teams allegedly contribute millions of dollars of net new...

We investigate the possibility that new facilities affect attendance - the "novelty effect" - in professional baseball, basketball, and football from 1969-2001 by estimating the parameters of a reduced form attendance model. Our results indicate a strong, persistent novelty effect in baseball...

This paper reviews the empirical literature assessing the effects of subsidies for professional sports franchises and facilities. The evidence reveals a great deal of consistency among economists doing research in this area. That evidence is that sports subsidies cannot be justified on the...