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Reference-dependent preferences, team relocations, and major league expansion

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  • Humphreys, Brad R.
  • Zhou, Li

Abstract

Professional sports teams receive large subsidies, some in excess of $500 million, from local governments for the construction of new facilities. These subsidies cannot be explained by tangible economic benefits, and estimates of the value of intangible benefits also fall short of typical subsidies. In this paper, we incorporate fans’ reference-dependent preferences into a model of the bargaining between local governments and teams. The model predicts that teams use relocation threats to exploit fans’ utility loss from team departures, a negative deviation from the status quo, to extract large subsidies from local governments. Fans’ loss aversion provides an explanation of the current team distribution, and observed team relocation and league expansion decisions in North America. The model also highlights the importance of anti-trust exemptions of the leagues in creating credible relocation threats for existing teams.

Suggested Citation

  • Humphreys, Brad R. & Zhou, Li, 2015. "Reference-dependent preferences, team relocations, and major league expansion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 10-25.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:109:y:2015:i:c:p:10-25
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.11.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Brad R. Humphreys, 2023. "Professional Sports Subsidies and Urban Congestion Externalities: Assessing 50 Years of Failed Urban Economic Development Policies," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 457-474, October.
    2. Park, Hyeon, 2019. "Inter-temporal choices with temporal reference dependence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 107-122.
    3. Brad R. Humphreys & Adam Nowak, 2015. "Professional Sports Facilities, Teams and Property Values: Evidence from Seattle's Key Arena," Working Papers 15-06, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    4. Zhang, Mu & Zheng, Jie, 2017. "A robust reference-dependent model for speculative bubbles," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 232-258.
    5. Alexander Cardazzi & Brad Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski & Brian P. Soebbing & Nicholas Watanabe, 2020. "Professional Sporting Events Increase Seasonal Influenza Mortality in US Cities," Working Papers 20-08, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    6. Humphreys, Brad R. & Nowak, Adam, 2017. "Professional sports facilities, teams and property values: Evidence from NBA team departures," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 39-51.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Reference-dependent preferences; Loss aversion; Bargaining with outside options; Major league sports;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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