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Alternative Measures of Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues

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  • Brad R. Humphreys

    (UMBC)

Abstract

The most commonly used measures of competitive balance in sports leagues do not capture season-to-season changes in relative standings. This article describes an alternative measure of competitive balance, the Competitive Balance Ratio (CBR), that reflects team specific variation in winning percentage over time and league-specific variation. Based on estimation of a model of the determination of annual attendance in professional baseball during the past 100 years, variation in the CBR explains more of the observed variation in attendance than other alternatives measures of competitive balance, suggesting that CBR is a useful metric.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad R. Humphreys, 2002. "Alternative Measures of Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(2), pages 133-148, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:3:y:2002:i:2:p:133-148
    DOI: 10.1177/152700250200300203
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    References listed on IDEAS

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