nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2017‒09‒24
three papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Intangible value in preserving the Sports Arenas By See, Chan Ken
  2. The Effect of Superstar Players on Game Attendance: Evidence from the NBA By Brad Humphreys; Candon Johnson
  3. Are Fair Weather Fans Affected by Weather? Rainfall, Habit Formation and Live Game Attendance By Qi Ge; Brad Humphreys; Kun Zhou

  1. By: See, Chan Ken
    Abstract: The UEFA European Championship (Euro) is among the world's most important sporting events staged nowadays. Apart from tremendous excitement among football fans, such a major event has a number of other implications, above all of economic nature. This is due to the necessity of preparing suitable infrastructural base, increase tourist traffic, potentially greater demand for labour etc. Despite growing interest in the staging of such events, the literature does not provide a straight answer as to the economic grounds for the submission of bids. This study, as one of the few concerned with the Polish circumstances, is intended to determine what significance should be attributed to stage the Euro 2012 in one of Polish host city. The aim of this study is to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) among the community of the Pomeranian region, in connection with intangible benefits and costs stemming from hosting the Euro 2012 in Gdansk. A survey conducted among 407 respondents was the source of information. The results of the study show that the average value of WTPbenefit for the whole sample was 45,72 PLN2012 and WTPcost was 3,86 PLN2012. The aggregate values for the whole region was in terms of benefits and costs 396,6 million PLN2012 and 33,49 million PLN2012 respectively. The results thus confirm the existence of both intangible benefits and costs associated with the event. However, it should be noted that the importance of the net benefits is insignificant and does not compensate for the massive expenditure from public sources.
    Keywords: Euro 2012, CVM, WTP
    JEL: H40
    Date: 2017–09–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81505&r=spo
  2. By: Brad Humphreys (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Candon Johnson (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: Economic models predict that "superstar" players generate externalities that increase attendance and other revenue sources beyond their individual contributions to team success. We investigate the effect of superstar players on individual game attendance at National Basketball Association games from 1981/82 through 2013/14. Regression models control for censoring due to sellouts, quality of teams, unobservable team/season heterogeneity, and expected game outcomes. The results show higher home and away attendance associated with superstar players. Michael Jordan generated the largest superstar attendance externality, generating an additional 5,021/5,631 fans at home/away games.
    Keywords: superstar effect, attendance demand, censored normal estimator
    JEL: L83
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:17-16&r=spo
  3. By: Qi Ge (Skidmore College, Department of Economics); Brad Humphreys (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Kun Zhou (Skidmore College, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: We analyze habit formation in sports attendance utilizing rainfall as an unexpected, transitory shock to attendance costs. Using attendance data from Major League Baseball (MLB) and NOAA weather data, we analyze the impact of variation in game day weather conditions on current and future MLB attendance. The empirical strategy permits identifcation of both the formation and persistence of habit from exogenous weather shocks. Past adverse weather shocks increase future attendance by about 200 fans per game. Our study contributes to the literature developing empirical evidence of habit formation in the field and provides policy implications for optimal ticket pricing strategies.
    Keywords: habit formation, rainfall, attendance
    JEL: D03 D12
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:17-24&r=spo

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