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Consumer and employer discrimination in professional sports markets – New evidence from Major League Baseball

Author

Listed:
  • Wolfgang Maennig

    (Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg)

  • Steffen Q. Mueller

    (Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg)

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between consumer discrimination, racial matching strategies, and employer discrimination in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1985 to 2016. To this end, we assess the extent to which both fan attendance and team performance respond to changes in teams’ and their local market areas’ racial compositions. We innovate by using a significantly enhanced data basis with individual player data that we derive from combining web scraping and using facial recognition techniques to identify player race and using County-level Census data instead of Metropolitan Statistical Area data. We find that fans in both MLB Leagues developed a taste for racial diversity in the late 1980s; since the 2000s, discrimination starts to increase again. However, this discrimination is not fully rationalizing the performance gap across athletes of different race and ethnicity; employer discrimination is not primarily driven by fans’ racial preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolfgang Maennig & Steffen Q. Mueller, 2021. "Consumer and employer discrimination in professional sports markets – New evidence from Major League Baseball," Working Papers 069, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    • Handle: RePEc:hce:wpaper:069
    as

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    File URL: http://www.hced.uni-hamburg.de/WorkingPapers/HCED-069.pdf
    File Function: First Version, 2021
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dominik Schreyer, 2019. "Football spectator no-show behaviour in the German Bundesliga," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(45), pages 4882-4901, September.
    2. Mark Foley & Fred Smith, 2007. "Consumer discrimination in professional sports: new evidence from major league baseball," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(13), pages 951-955.
    3. Scott Tainsky & Jason A. Winfree, 2010. "Discrimination and Demand: The Effect of International Players on Attendance in Major League Baseball," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 117-128, March.
    4. Gwartney, James & Haworth, Charles, 1974. "Employer Costs and Discrimination: The Case of Baseball," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(4), pages 873-881, July/Aug..
    5. Richard C. K. Burdekin & Richard T. Hossfeld & Janet Kiholm Smith, 2005. "Are NBA Fans Becoming Indifferent to Race? Evidence From the 1990s," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 6(2), pages 144-159, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer preferences; Discrimination; Race; Ethnicity; Facial recognition; Ticket sales;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z2 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics

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