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Selling the Big Game: Estimating the Economic Impact of Mega-Events through Taxable Sales

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Baade

    (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College)

  • Robert Baumann

    (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)

  • Victor Matheson

    (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)

Abstract

Professional sports leagues, franchises, and civic boosters, have used the promise of an all star game or league championship as an incentive for host cities to construct new stadiums or arenas at considerable public expense. Past league-sponsored studies have estimated that Super Bowls, All-Star games and other sports mega-events increase economic activity by hundreds of millions of dollars in host cities. Our analysis fails to support these claims. Our detailed regression analysis of taxable sales in Florida over the period 1980 to 2004 reveals that on, average, mega-events ranging from the World Cup to the World Series have been associated with reductions in taxable sales in host regions of $5 to $10 million per month. Likewise, strikes in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball League, each of which has resulted in the cancellation of large parts of entire seasons, appear to have also had no demonstrable negative effect on taxable sales in host cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2006. "Selling the Big Game: Estimating the Economic Impact of Mega-Events through Taxable Sales," Working Papers 0610, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:spe:wpaper:0610
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    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/spe/BaadeBaumannMatheson_TaxableSales.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John J. Siegfried & Andrew Zimbalist, 2000. "The Economics of Sports Facilities and Their Communities," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 95-114, Summer.
    2. Robert Baade & Victor Matheson, 2004. "The Quest for the Cup: Assessing the Economic Impact of the World Cup," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 343-354.
    3. Victor Matheson, 2009. "Economic Multipliers and Mega-Event Analysis," International Journal of Sport Finance, Fitness Information Technology, vol. 4(1), pages 63-70, February.
    4. Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2002. "The Economic Impact of Postseason Play in Professional Sports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(3), pages 291-299, August.
    5. Victor A. Matheson & Robert A. Baade, 2004. "Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(13), pages 2691-2696, December.
    6. Robert A. Baade & Victor A. Matheson, 2001. "Home Run or Wild Pitch?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 2(4), pages 307-327, November.
    7. Robert A. Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2007. "Estimating the Economic Impact of Natural and Social Disasters, with an Application to Hurricane Katrina," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(11), pages 2061-2076, October.
    8. Victor Matheson & Robert Baade, 2005. "Have Public Finance Principles Been Shut Out in Financing New Sports Stadiums for the NFL in the United States?," Working Papers 0511, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    9. Stefan Szymanski, 2001. "Up for the Cup," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 2(4), pages 175-183, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2011. "Big Men on Campus: Estimating the Economic Impact of College Sports on Local Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 371-380.
    2. Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2008. "Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Subsidies for Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Mega-Events?," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(3), pages 294-315, September.
    3. Robert W. Baumann & Victor A. Matheson & Chihiro Muroi, 2009. "Bowling in Hawaii," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(1), pages 107-123, February.
    4. Robert Baade & Victor Matheson, 2007. "NFL Governance and the Fate of the New Orleans Saints: Some Observations," Working Papers 0703, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    5. Roberto Gásquez & Vicente Royuela, 2014. "Is Football an Indicator of Development at the International Level?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 827-848, July.
    6. Dennis Coates, 2007. "Stadiums And Arenas: Economic Development Or Economic Redistribution?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(4), pages 565-577, October.
    7. Robert A Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor A Matheson, 2009. "Rejecting “Conventional” Wisdom: Estimating the Economic Impact of National Political Conventions," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 520-530.
    8. Dennis Coates & Craig A. Depken, II, 2008. "Do College Football Games Pay for Themselves? The Impact of College Football Games on Local Sales Tax Revenue," Working Papers 0802, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    9. Robert W. Baumann & Victor A. Matheson, 2017. "Many happy returns? The Pro-Bowl, mega-events, and tourism in Hawaii," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(4), pages 788-802, June.
    10. Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2007. "Down, Set, Hike: The Economic Impact of College Football Games on Local Economies," Working Papers 0702, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    11. Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson & Chihiro Muroi, 2008. "Bowling in Hawaii: Examining the Effectiveness of Sports-Based Tourism Strategies," Working Papers 0808, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    12. Feddersen, Arne & Maennig, Wolfgang, 2012. "Sectoral labour market effects of the 2006 FIFA World Cup," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 860-869.
    13. Victor Matheson & Kent Grote, 2007. "Gamblers' Love for Variety and Substitution among Lotto Games," Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, University of Buckingham Press, vol. 1(2), pages 85-99, June.
    14. Dennis Coates & Victor Matheson, 2011. "Mega-events and housing costs: raising the rent while raising the roof?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(1), pages 119-137, February.
    15. Massiani, Jérôme, 2015. "How much will this event benefit our economy? A checklist for Economic Impact Assessment and application to Milan 2015 International Exhibition," MPRA Paper 68976, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2015.
    16. Robert A. Baade & Robert W. Baumann & Victor A. Matheson, 2008. "Assessing the Economic Impact of College Football Games on Local Economies," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(6), pages 628-643, December.
    17. Jesyca Salgado-Barandela & à ngel Barajas & Patricio Sánchez-Fernández, 2021. "Sport-event portfolios: An analysis of their ability to attract revenue from tourism," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(3), pages 436-454, May.
    18. Victor Matheson, 2009. "Economics of the Super Bowl," Working Papers 0914, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    19. Agha, Nola & Rascher, Daniel, 2013. "When can economic impact be positive? Nine conditions that explain why smaller sports can have bigger impacts," MPRA Paper 48016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Douglas Barrios & Stuart Russell & Matt Andrews, 2016. "Bringing Home the Gold? A Review of the Economic Impact of Hosting Mega-Events," CID Working Papers 320, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    21. Robert A. Baade & Victor A. Matheson, 2012. "An Evaluation of the Economic Impact of National Football League Mega-Events," Sports Economics, Management, and Policy, in: Kevin G. Quinn (ed.), The Economics of the National Football League, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 243-258, Springer.
    22. Massiani, Jerome & Pizziali, Giorgia, 2015. "Una stima realistica dell’impatto economico dei visitatori dell’Expo 2015 [The economic impact of Expo 2015 visitors: a realistic estimate]," MPRA Paper 68954, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2015.
    23. Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2006. "The Economic Consequences of Professional Sports Strikes and Lockouts: Revisited," Working Papers 0604, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    24. Michał Marcin Kobierecki & Michał Pierzgalski, 2022. "Sports Mega-Events and Economic Growth: A Synthetic Control Approach," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 567-597, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    impact analysis; sports; mega-event; championship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • R53 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock

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