Variation in location and type of property calls for service in New Orleans on NFL and NBA Gamedays

There is a growing body of research devoted to examining how sporting venues may alter patterns of crime in areas surrounding such facilities. Overall research indicates that sporting events may contribute to increases in crime rates, however, this varies based on several factors such as the type of crime, type of sporting event, and the location of the stadium/arena. The current study extends this line of research by implementing a time series analysis and using two clustering methods: hot spot analysis and multivariate clustering to examine property crime related calls for service on days the New Orleans Saints (NFL team) play home games at Caesar's Superdome and the New Orleans Pelicans (NBA team) play home games at Smoothie King Center over a four-year period. Results show that property calls for service increase on days with sporting events, although the effect is not statistically significant. Hot spots are stable across days, centered in tourist areas of the Central Business District and French Quarter, yet show event-specific variation. High theft clusters are located near Bourbon Street and are consistent across contexts, although clusters expand beyond Bourbon Street for both Saints and Pelicans home game days. The results illustrate how nodes, pathways, and edges contextualize the spatial clustering of property calls for service across two sporting venues. Implications and policy directions are highlighted.