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Big Men on Campus: Estimating the Economic Impact of College Sports on Local Economies

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

College football and men’s basketball are the largest revenue generators in college athletics. Studies funded by athletic boosters tout the economic benefits of a college athletic program as an incentive for host cities to construct new stadiums or arenas at considerable public expense. Our analysis of the economic impact of home football and men’s basketball games on Tallahassee (home of Florida State University) and Gainesville (home of the University of Florida) between 1980 to early-2007 fails to support these claims. Men’s basketball games at these universities have no statistically significant impact on taxable sales, while football yields a modest gain of $2 to $3 million per home game. While this positive finding is one of the first in the academic literature of the impact of sports, these gains pale in comparison to the figures in many of the studies funded by athletic boosters.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2007. "Big Men on Campus: Estimating the Economic Impact of College Sports on Local Economies," Working Papers 0704, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hcx:wpaper:0704
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    Cited by:

    1. Arne Feddersen & Wolfgang Maennig, 2013. "Mega-Events And Sectoral Employment: The Case Of The 1996 Olympic Games," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(3), pages 580-603, July.
    2. Rasmus K. Storm & Tor Georg Jakobsen & Christian Gjersing Nielsen, 2020. "The impact of Formula 1 on regional economies in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(6), pages 827-837, June.
    3. Dennis Coates, 2009. "Hotel Tax Collections and a Local Mega-Event," Working Papers 0901, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    4. Singleton, Carl & Bell, Adrian R. & Chung, Andy & Reade, J. James & Urquhart, Andrew, 2024. "Scoring goals: The impact of English Premier League football teams on local university admissions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    5. Philip K. Porter & Daniel M. Chin, 2012. "Economic Impact of Sports Events," Chapters, in: Wolfgang Maennig & Andrew Zimbalist (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Mega Sporting Events, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Matthias Brachert, 2021. "Regional effects of professional sports franchises: causal evidence from four European football leagues," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 295-306, February.
    7. Francisco Antonio García Márquez & María del Carmen Pérez Gónzález & Francisco Javier Maza Ávila, 2024. "El Gasto Público Y El Esfuerzo Empresarial En El Deporte Y Su Relación Con El Desarrollo Territorial: El Caso De Las Comunidades Autónomas Españolas," Revista de Estudios Regionales, Universidades Públicas de Andalucía, vol. 1, pages 157-191.
    8. Geoffrey Propheter, 2019. "Estimating the Effect of Sports Facilities on Local Area Commercial Rents: Evidence From Brooklyn’s Barclays Center," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(1), pages 91-114, January.
    9. Janhuba, Radek, 2019. "Do victories and losses matter? Effects of football on life satisfaction," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 75(PB).
    10. Bernard F. Lentz & David N. Laband, 2008. "The Impact of College Athletics on Employment in the Restaurant and Accommodations Industries," Working Papers 0803, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    11. Christelle Khalaf & G. Jason Jolley & Candi Clouse, 2022. "The Economic Impact of Small Colleges on Local Economies: A Guide to Attainable Data and Best Practices," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 36(1), pages 17-32, February.
    12. Joshua Martin & Joshua Hall, 2020. "The Impact of the New York City Marathon on Hotel Demand," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-10, October.
    13. 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.
    14. Michal Varmus & Martin Mičiak & Milan Kubina & Roman Adámik, 2022. "Determinants of the tennis players' success and their effect on the sports organizations' sustainability," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 10(1), pages 132-157, September.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • 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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