IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/spomar/v22y2019i5p600-612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market disruption as a regime for athlete activism: An economic analysis of college football player protests

Author

Listed:
  • Watanabe, Nicholas M.
  • Yan, Grace
  • Soebbing, Brian P.

Abstract

In this study, the authors examine the market disruption of college football protests, under the belief the ability of market disruption can play a significant role for activism movements to challenge authority as well as expand opportunity for social change. Specifically considering game attendance as an important form of market demand, the authors employ regression modeling to analyze the relationship between game attendance and protests organized to struggle against racial injustices by football players at four Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The results from the empirical models suggest that the voting demographics of the local market a team plays in have a significant relationship with attendance after a protest, with some schools experiencing declines in consumer interest. Results advance the current inquiry of athlete activism through an economic lens, which contributes to further discussions on the empowerment of athletes and their roles in social activism.

Suggested Citation

  • Watanabe, Nicholas M. & Yan, Grace & Soebbing, Brian P., 2019. "Market disruption as a regime for athlete activism: An economic analysis of college football player protests," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 600-612.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:spomar:v:22:y:2019:i:5:p:600-612
    DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2018.08.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352318302249
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.smr.2018.08.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2008. "Heteroskedasticity-Robust Standard Errors for Fixed Effects Panel Data Regression," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(1), pages 155-174, January.
    2. McDonald P. Mirabile, 2015. "The Determinants of Attendance at Neutral Site College Football Games," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 191-204, April.
    3. Sung, Hojun & Mills, Brian M., 2018. "Estimation of game-level attendance in major league soccer: Outcome uncertainty and absolute quality considerations," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 519-532.
    4. Jeffery Borland, 2003. "Demand for Sport," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(4), pages 478-502, Winter.
    5. Phillip Miller, 2007. "Private Financing and Sports Franchise Values," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 8(5), pages 449-467, October.
    6. Roger D. Blair & Andrew Zimbalist, 2017. "Reforming College Sports and a Constrained, Conditional Antitrust Exemption," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(5), pages 634-643, July.
    7. Brian L. Goff & H. Youn Kim & Dennis P. Wilson, 2017. "Estimating the market value of collegiate football players from professional factor shares," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 233-237, February.
    8. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    9. Joseph Price & Brian P. Soebbing & David Berri & Brad R. Humphreys, 2010. "Tournament Incentives, League Policy, and NBA Team Performance Revisited," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 117-135, April.
    10. Huang, Haifang & Humphreys, Brad R., 2012. "Sports participation and happiness: Evidence from US microdata," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 776-793.
    11. Dennis Coates & Thane Harrison, 2005. "Baseball Strikes and the Demand for Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 6(3), pages 282-302, August.
    12. Victor Matheson, 2006. "The effects of labour strikes on consumer demand in professional sports: revisited," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1173-1179.
    13. Gregory A. Falls & Paul A. Natke, 2014. "College football attendance: a panel study of the Football Bowl Subdivision," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(10), pages 1093-1107, April.
    14. Brian Mills & Rodney Fort, 2014. "League-Level Attendance And Outcome Uncertainty In U.S. Pro Sports Leagues," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 205-218, January.
    15. Ashenfelter, Orley & Ciccarella, Stephen & Shatz, Howard J., 2007. "French Wine and the U.S. Boycott of 2003: Does Politics Really Affect Commerce?," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 55-74, April.
    16. Sung, Hojun & Mills, Brian M. & Tainsky, Scott, 2017. "From schadenfreude to mitfreude? Estimating viewership loss and rivalrous relationships in otherwise neutral markets," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 159-169.
    17. Martin B. Schmidt & David J. Berri, 2004. "The Impact of Labor Strikes on Consumer Demand: An Application to Professional Sports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 344-357, March.
    18. Robert Brown, 2011. "Research Note: Estimates of College Football Player Rents," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(2), pages 200-212, April.
    19. Brunk, Katja H. & Blümelhuber, Christian, 2011. "One strike and you're out: Qualitative insights into the formation of consumers' ethical company or brand perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 134-141, February.
    20. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Markets: Cartel Behavior and Amateurism in College Sports," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 209-226, Winter.
    21. Gregory A. Falls & Paul A. Natke, 2016. "College Football Attendance: A Panel Study of the Football Championship Subdivision," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(8), pages 530-540, December.
    22. Mark D. Groza, 2010. "NCAA conference realignment and football game day attendance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 517-529, December.
    23. Donald I. Price & Kabir C. Sen, 2003. "The demand for game day attendance in college football: an analysis of the 1997 Division 1-A season," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 35-46.
    24. Brown, Katie M. & Salaga, Steven, 2018. "NCAA football television viewership: Product quality and consumer preference relative to market expectations," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 377-390.
    25. Todd H. Kuethe & Mesbah Motamed, 2010. "Returns to Stardom: Evidence From U.S. Major League Soccer," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(5), pages 567-579, October.
    26. Halvorsen, Robert & Palmquist, Raymond, 1980. "The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 474-475, June.
    27. Martin Schmidt & David Berri, 2002. "The impact of the 1981 and 1994-1995 strikes on Major League Baseball attendance: a time-series analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 471-478.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe & George B Cunningham, 2020. "The impact of race relations on NFL attendance: An econometric analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Christopher Jepsen & Lisa K. Jepsen, 2023. "Taking a Knee: Effect of NFL Player Protests on Subsequent Employment and Earnings," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 187-199, September.
    3. Judah Brown & Brandon J. Sheridan, 2020. "The Impact of National Anthem Protests on National Football League Television Ratings," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(8), pages 829-847, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe & George B Cunningham, 2020. "The impact of race relations on NFL attendance: An econometric analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Gregory A. Falls & Paul A. Natke & Linlan Xiao, 2022. "College football attendance in the long run: The Football Championship Subdivision," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2172-2183, September.
    3. Jason A. Winfree, 2020. "Rivalries, Bowl Eligibility, and Scheduling Effects in College Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 477-492, June.
    4. Brian Mills & Rodney Fort, 2014. "League-Level Attendance And Outcome Uncertainty In U.S. Pro Sports Leagues," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 205-218, January.
    5. Paul A. Natke & Elizabeth A. Thomas, 2019. "Does a marching band impact college Football game attendance? A panel study of Division II," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(16), pages 1354-1357, September.
    6. Brian M. Mills & Rodney Fort, 2018. "Team-Level Time Series Analysis in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(7), pages 911-933, October.
    7. Jason Winfree, 2009. "Owners incentives during the 2004-05 National Hockey League lockout," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(25), pages 3275-3285.
    8. Pawlowski, Tim & Downward, Paul & Rasciute, Simona, 2014. "Does national pride from international sporting success contribute to well-being? An international investigation," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 121-132.
    9. Jaret Treber & Lawrence Mulcahy & Manjul Bhusal Sharma, 2018. "Empty Seats or Empty Threats? Examining the Effects of the 1994-1995 and 2004-2005 Lockouts on Attendance and Revenue in the National Hockey League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(5), pages 677-695, June.
    10. Gregory A. Falls & Paul A. Natke, 2016. "College Football Attendance: A Panel Study of the Football Championship Subdivision," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(8), pages 530-540, December.
    11. Tony Caporale & Trevor Collier, 2015. "Are We Getting Better or Are They Getting Worse? Draft Position, Strength of Schedule, and Competitive Balance in the National Football League," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 291-300, September.
    12. Stefan Szymanski & Jason Winfree, 2018. "On The Optimal Realignment Of A Contest: The Case Of College Football," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 483-496, January.
    13. Judah Brown & Brandon J. Sheridan, 2020. "The Impact of National Anthem Protests on National Football League Television Ratings," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(8), pages 829-847, December.
    14. Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2005. "Novelty Effects Of New Facilities On Attendance At Professional Sporting Events," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(3), pages 436-455, July.
    15. R. Todd Jewell, 2017. "The Effect of Marquee Players on Sports Demand," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(3), pages 239-252, April.
    16. Seung C. Ahn & Young H. Lee, 2014. "Major League Baseball Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(5), pages 451-477, October.
    17. Hojun Sung & Brian M. Mills, 2018. "Estimation of game-level attendance in major league soccer: Outcome uncertainty and absolute quality considerations," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 519-532, December.
    18. Young Lee & Rodney Fort, 2008. "Attendance and the Uncertainty-of-Outcome Hypothesis in Baseball," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 33(4), pages 281-295, December.
    19. Craig Garthwaite & Jordan Keener & Matthew Notowidigdo & Nicole Ozminkowski, 2020. "Who Profits from Amateurism? Rent-Sharing in Modern College Sports," Working Papers 2020-117, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    20. Rodney Fort & Young Hoon Lee, 2013. "Major League Baseball attendance time series: league policy lessons," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Jaume García (ed.), The Econometrics of Sport, chapter 2, pages 35-50, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:spomar:v:22:y:2019:i:5:p:600-612. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/716936/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.