| By: |
Young Hoon Lee (Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul) |
| Abstract: |
This paper applies a panel data model with observed common factors to Major
League Baseball (MLB) panel data from 1904 to 2012 to analyze attendance. In
particular, it aims to identify common factors. The empirical results suggest
that MLB fan preferences were simple in the early years (1904?1957) with
respect to common factors and then became multi-faceted in later years
(1958?2012), because the number of significant common factors increased from
four to seven. Time trends and per capita gross domestic product were
significant over the whole sample period, but outcome uncertainties and
offensive performance, such as slugging performance, became newly significant
common factors influencing attendance in later years. This indicates that fans
consider not only their home team¡¯s characteristics but also the
characteristics of the away teams; then, in the modern era, it became critical
for the league to implement elaborate business measures to promote competitive
balance and slugging performance. |
| Keywords: |
Attendance, outcome uncertainty, common factors, factor loading, panel data, competitive balance |
| Date: |
2016 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgo:wpaper:1604&r=spo |