nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2006‒08‒26
six papers chosen by
Joao Carlos Correia Leitao
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. The Economic Consequences of Professional Sports Strikes and Lockouts: Revisited By Robert Baade; Robert Baumann; Victor Matheson
  2. Selling the Big Game: Estimating the Economic Impact of Mega-Events through Taxable Sales By Robert Baade; Robert Baumann; Victor Matheson
  3. The production process in basketball: Empirical evidence from Spanish league By José M. Sánchez Santos; Pablo Castellanos García; Jesus A. Dopico Castro
  4. A Tale of Two Stadiums: Comparing the Economic Impact of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field By Victor Matheson; Robert Baade; Mimi Nikolova
  5. Economic Determinants of Participation in Physical Activity and Sport By Brad R. Humphreys; Jane E. Ruseski
  6. Accounting for Achievement in Athens: A Count Data Analysis of National Olympic Performance By Glen Roberts

  1. By: Robert Baade (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College); Robert Baumann (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross); Victor Matheson (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)
    Abstract: Professional sports franchises have used the lure of economic riches as an incentive for cities to construct new stadiums and arenas at considerable public expense. An analysis of taxable sales in Florida cities demonstrates that none of the 6 new franchises or 8 new stadiums and arenas in the state since 1980 have resulted in a statistically significant increase in taxable sales in the host metropolitan area. In addition, using the numerous work stoppages in professional sports as test cases, again no statistically significant effect on taxable sales is found from the sudden absence of professional sports due to strikes and lockouts.
    Keywords: sports, strikes, economic impact, baseball, football, basketball, hockey, stadiums
    JEL: L83 R53
    Date: 2006–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0609&r=spo
  2. By: Robert Baade (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College); Robert Baumann (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross); Victor Matheson (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)
    Abstract: Professional sports leagues, franchises, and civic boosters, have used the promise of an all star game or league championship as an incentive for host cities to construct new stadiums or arenas at considerable public expense. Past league-sponsored studies have estimated that Super Bowls, All-Star games and other sports mega-events increase economic activity by hundreds of millions of dollars in host cities. Our analysis fails to support these claims. Our detailed regression analysis of taxable sales in Florida over the period 1980 to 2004 reveals that on, average, mega-events ranging from the World Cup to the World Series have been associated with reductions in taxable sales in host regions of $5 to $10 million per month. Likewise, strikes in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball League, each of which has resulted in the cancellation of large parts of entire seasons, appear to have also had no demonstrable negative effect on taxable sales in host cities.
    Keywords: impact analysis, sports, mega-event, championship
    JEL: L83 R53
    Date: 2006–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0610&r=spo
  3. By: José M. Sánchez Santos (Department of Applied Economics, University of A Coruña); Pablo Castellanos García; Jesus A. Dopico Castro
    Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to provide an empirical assessment of the production process in a basketball team. We estimate a logit model in which the output produced by a team is the game outcome (win or loss) and the inputs are those play characteristics that impact on that outcome. From the results obtained it is clear that, on average, there is a substantial difference between the impact of each play characteristic on a basketball team’s winning probability and that probability varies as the quality/quantity of the inputs used changes, albeit not proportionally.
    Keywords: sports economics, team sport, professional basketball, productive process, logit model
    JEL: L83 C25
    Date: 2006–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0611&r=spo
  4. By: Victor Matheson (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross); Robert Baade (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College); Mimi Nikolova (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College)
    Abstract: Supporters of sports stadium construction often defend taxpayer subsidies for stadiums by suggesting that sports infrastructure can serve as an anchor for local economic redevelopment. Have such promises of economic rejuvenation been realized? The City of Chicago provides an interesting case study on how a new stadium, U. S. Cellular Field, has been integrated into its southside neighborhood in a way that may well have limited local economic activity. This economic outcome stands in stark contrast to Wrigley Field in northern Chicago which continues to experience a synergistic commercial relationship with its neighborhood.
    Keywords: sports, stadiums, development, baseball, Chicago, economic impact
    JEL: L83 O18 R53
    Date: 2006–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0614&r=spo
  5. By: Brad R. Humphreys (Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois); Jane E. Ruseski (Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois)
    Abstract: This paper examines the economic determinants of participation in physical activity by developing and analyzing a consumer choice model of participation and by testing the predictions of this model using data drawn from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). Both emphasize that individuals face two distinct decisions: (1) should I participate in sport?; and (2) how much time should I spend participating in sport? The evidence highlights the importance of selectivity. The economic factors that affect these two decisions work in opposite directions; factors that increase the likelihood of participation generally decrease the amount of time spent participating.
    Keywords: physical activity, time allocation, health production
    JEL: I20 I12 I18 L83
    Date: 2006–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0613&r=spo
  6. By: Glen Roberts (Department of Economics, University of Victoria)
    Abstract: We model summer Olympic medal counts using count data analysis. The advantage of this methodology is its explicit recognition of the discrete non-negative form of the dependent variable; i.e. the total number of medals won by a nation in a summer Olympiad. Using data from the most recent 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Poisson and negative binomial count data regression models are constructed. The chosen model is negative binomial and attaches statistical significance to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, the age dependency ratio, and a relatively cold climate. In contrast to previous studies, population, health expenditure per capita, and the effect of being a host or neighbour nation of an Olympiad are all insignificant in explaining medal counts. We also find no “cricket effect” or “rugby effect.”
    Keywords: Olympics, count data, Poisson model, negative binomial model
    JEL: C16 C25 L83
    Date: 2006–08–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vic:vicewp:0602&r=spo

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