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An Examination of the Effects of the Recent Economic Crisis on Major League Baseball (MLB) Attendance Demand

Author

Listed:
  • Sung Il Hong

    (Florida State University)

  • Michael Mondello

    (Florida State University)

  • Dennis Coates

    (Department of Economics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Abstract

We investigate the effects of the recent economic crisis on Major League Baseball (MLB) attendance during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. To elaborately capture the impact of economic circumstances, we adopt the composite index of coincident indicators released by Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Major advantages of the coincident indexes are the ability to specify monthly changes in state economic conditions as well as combining the information from several economic indicators. The estimates for the coincident indicators suggests the economic downturn drives a fall in attendance of about 6%, compared to the reported decline of 6.77%. The success of the composite index in explaining the impact of the recent economic crisis on attendance in MLB suggests the indicator is a viable proxy for income in game attendance demand studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Sung Il Hong & Michael Mondello & Dennis Coates, 2011. "An Examination of the Effects of the Recent Economic Crisis on Major League Baseball (MLB) Attendance Demand," Working Papers 1123, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:spe:wpaper:1123
    as

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    File URL: http://college.holycross.edu/RePEc/spe/HongMondelloCoates_MLBAttendance.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Coates, Dennis & Humphreys, Brad & Zhou, Li, 2012. "Outcome Uncertainty, Reference-Dependent Preferences and Live Game Attendance," Working Papers 2012-7, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    composite index of coincident indicators; economic downturn; attendance; MLB;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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