IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jospec/v26y2025i3p219-239.html

Game Day Traffic and Sports: Evidence From Yankee Stadium in the Bronx

Author

Listed:
  • Hui Hwang
  • Brad R. Humphreys
  • Hyunwoong Pyun

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of sports games on taxi trip times near a stadium in the Bronx. The traffic outcome variable comes from data on individual taxi trips in New York City. These trip-level data contain information on pick-up and drop-off times and locations, and trip distance. We analyze over 280,000 taxi trips on weekday evenings between March and September 2019. Under the assumption that taxi trips represent traffic conditions in the city, the results indicate that travel time increases on a game day. Travelers experience 1.3% longer travel times on game days. Game-related traffic increases travel time by 6.3% for the trips that pass through the stadium area, and by 17% for trips before the game starts. Local economic value of lost time from games amounts to about $2 million per year. Governments should consider these negative externalities when providing subsidies for new sports facility construction.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui Hwang & Brad R. Humphreys & Hyunwoong Pyun, 2025. "Game Day Traffic and Sports: Evidence From Yankee Stadium in the Bronx," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 26(3), pages 219-239, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:26:y:2025:i:3:p:219-239
    DOI: 10.1177/15270025241289400
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15270025241289400
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/15270025241289400?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ariel Goldszmidt & John A. List & Robert D. Metcalfe & Ian Muir & V. Kerry Smith & Jenny Wang, 2020. "The Value of Time in the United States: Estimates from Nationwide Natural Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 28208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. 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.
    3. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2011. "The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2616-2652, October.
    4. Schaller, Bruce, 2010. "New York City's congestion pricing experience and implications for road pricing acceptance in the United States," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 266-273, August.
    5. Gidon Jakar & Kiernan Gordon & Qian He, 2023. "The temporal and spatial relationships between professional sport events and reported vehicular crashes: an analysis of Cleveland, Ohio," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 628-648, August.
    6. Geoffrey Propheter, 2020. "Do urban sports facilities have unique social costs? An analysis of event-related congestion on police response time," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 271-281, April.
    7. John Charles Bradbury & Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2023. "The impact of professional sports franchises and venues on local economies: A comprehensive survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1389-1431, September.
    8. Brad R. Humphreys & Hyunwoong Pyun, 2018. "Professional sporting events and traffic: Evidence from U.S. cities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 869-886, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Brad R. Humphreys & Geoffrey Propheter, "undated". "NFL Franchise Departures and Nearby Home Prices," Working Papers 24-05, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    2. Tarduno, Matthew, 2025. "Elasticities and tax incidence in urban ridesharing markets: Evidence from Chicago," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Ballo, Lukas & de Freitas, Lucas Meyer & Meister, Adrian & Axhausen, Kay W., 2023. "The E-Bike City as a radical shift toward zero-emission transport: Sustainable? Equitable? Desirable?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. John Charles Bradbury & Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2023. "The impact of professional sports franchises and venues on local economies: A comprehensive survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1389-1431, September.
    5. Christensen, Peter & Osman, Adam, 2021. "The Demand for Mobility: Evidence from an Experiment with Uber Riders," IZA Discussion Papers 14179, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Geoffrey Propheter, 2023. "Sports Facilities as a Housing Amenity: Do Prices Follow Facilities?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 24(4), pages 443-474, May.
    7. Stephen L. Locke, 2019. "Estimating The Impact Of Major League Baseball Games On Local Air Pollution," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 236-244, April.
    8. Sidney A. Johnson & Rodney Fort & Mark S. Rosentraub, 2025. "The Consensus (?) on Public Spending on Professional Sports Facilities," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 39(2), pages 136-141, May.
    9. Hiroaki Funahashi & Alexander Cardazzi & Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe, 2023. "Mass Gathering Sport Events and the Spread of Viral Respiratory Infection: Japanese Professional Baseball and Influenza," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 24(5), pages 551-578, June.
    10. Propheter, Geoffrey, 2020. "The effect of a new sports facility on property development: Evidence from building permits and a localized synthetic control," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 50(01), December.
    11. Lehe, Lewis J. & Devunuri, Saipraneeth & Rondan, Javier & Pandey, Ayush & Vignon, Daniel, 2025. "Taxation of ridehailing in the United States," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 336-352.
    12. 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.
    13. Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2025. "Professional Sports Facility Construction Projects and Infant Health," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 26(4), pages 397-426, May.
    14. Gabriel Kreindler, 2024. "Peak‐Hour Road Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence and Equilibrium Implications," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(4), pages 1233-1268, July.
    15. John Charles Bradbury & Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2024. "Public policy toward professional sports stadiums: A review," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 899-937, June.
    16. Jinwon Kim & Jucheol Moon & Dongyun Yang, 2024. "Pigouvian Congestion Tolls and the Welfare Gain: Estimates for California Freeways," Working Papers 2402, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    17. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    18. Geddes, R. Richard & Wagner, Benjamin L., 2013. "Why do U.S. states adopt public–private partnership enabling legislation?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 30-41.
    19. Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López & Ilias Pasidis & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2022. "Congestion in highways when tolls and railroads matter: evidence from European cities [The congestion relief benefit of public transit: evidence from Rome]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(5), pages 931-960.
    20. Stephan Heblich & Stephen J Redding & Daniel M Sturm, 2020. "The Making of the Modern Metropolis: Evidence from London," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2059-2133.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • Z28 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Policy
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:jospec:v:26:y:2025:i:3:p:219-239. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.