IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1178.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inside the NBA Bubble: How Black Players Performed Better without Fans

Author

Listed:
  • Caselli, Mauro
  • Falco, Paolo
  • Somekh, Babak

Abstract

In the NBA, predominantly Black players play in front of predominantly non-Black fans. Using the 'NBA bubble', a natural experiment induced by COVID-19, we show that the performance of Black players improved significantly with the absence of fans vis-à-vis White players. This is consistent with Black athletes being negatively affected by racist pressure from mostly non-Black audiences. We dispel several alternative hypotheses. Beyond hurting individual players, fans' behavior causes significant economic damage to the NBA by lowering the quality of the game.

Suggested Citation

  • Caselli, Mauro & Falco, Paolo & Somekh, Babak, 2022. "Inside the NBA Bubble: How Black Players Performed Better without Fans," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1178, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1178
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/265122/1/GLO-DP-1178.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Principe, Francesco & van Ours, Jan C., 2022. "Racial bias in newspaper ratings of professional football players," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. William C. Horrace & Hyunseok Jung & Shane Sanders, 2022. "Network Competition and Team Chemistry in the NBA," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 35-49, January.
    3. Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth, 2014. "The cost of racial animus on a black candidate: Evidence using Google search data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 26-40.
    4. Mauro Caselli & Paolo Falco, 2020. "As long as they are cheap. Experimental evidence on the demand for migrant workers," Discussion Papers 20-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    5. Christopher A. Parsons & Johan Sulaeman & Michael C. Yates & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2011. "Strike Three: Discrimination, Incentives, and Evaluation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1410-1435, June.
    6. Joseph Price & Justin Wolfers, 2010. "Racial Discrimination Among NBA Referees," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(4), pages 1859-1887.
    7. Pettersson-Lidbom, Per & Priks, Mikael, 2010. "Behavior under social pressure: Empty Italian stadiums and referee bias," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 212-214, August.
    8. Martin G. Kocher & Marc V. Lenz & Matthias Sutter, 2012. "Psychological Pressure in Competitive Environments: New Evidence from Randomized Natural Experiments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(8), pages 1585-1591, August.
    9. Fabrizio Colella & Patricio S. Dalton & Giovanni Giusti, 2024. "Moral Support and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4614-4628, July.
    10. Teramoto Masaru & Cross Chad L., 2010. "Relative Importance of Performance Factors in Winning NBA Games in Regular Season versus Playoffs," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 6(3), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Bryson, Alex & Dolton, Peter & Reade, J. James & Schreyer, Dominik & Singleton, Carl, 2021. "Causal effects of an absent crowd on performances and refereeing decisions during Covid-19," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    12. Patrick Bayer & Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2018. "Divergent Paths: A New Perspective on Earnings Differences Between Black and White Men Since 1940," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1459-1501.
    13. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2022. "Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1416-1436, July.
    14. 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.
    15. Zheng Cao & Joseph Price & Daniel F. Stone, 2011. "Performance Under Pressure in the NBA," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(3), pages 231-252, June.
    16. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    17. David H Chae & Sean Clouston & Mark L Hatzenbuehler & Michael R Kramer & Hannah L F Cooper & Sacoby M Wilson & Seth I Stephens-Davidowitz & Robert S Gold & Bruce G Link, 2015. "Association between an Internet-Based Measure of Area Racism and Black Mortality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    18. Patrick Kline & Evan K Rose & Christopher R Walters, 2022. "Systemic Discrimination Among Large U.S. Employers [“Teachers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High Schools,”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 1963-2036.
    19. Kanazawa, Mark T & Funk, Jonas P, 2001. "Racial Discrimination in Professional Basketball: Evidence from Nielsen Ratings," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 599-608, October.
    20. Michela Ponzo & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2018. "Does the Home Advantage Depend on Crowd Support? Evidence From Same-Stadium Derbies," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(4), pages 562-582, May.
    21. Edoardo Gallo & Thomas Grund & J. James Reade, 2013. "Punishing the Foreigner: Implicit Discrimination in the Premier League Based on Oppositional Identity," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(1), pages 136-156, February.
    22. Britta Glennon & Francisco Morales & Seth Carnahan & Exequiel Hernandez, 2021. "Does Employing Skilled Immigrants Enhance Competitive Performance? Evidence from European Football Clubs," NBER Working Papers 29446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2021. "Social pressure in the stadiums: Do agents change behavior without crowd support?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    24. Kevin Lang & Michael Manove, 2011. "Education and Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1467-1496, June.
    25. Anna Aizer & Ryan Boone & Adriana Lleras-Muney & Jonathan Vogel, 2020. "Discrimination and Racial Disparities in Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from WWII," NBER Working Papers 27689, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Mauro Caselli & Paolo Falco & Gianpiero Mattera, 2023. "When the Stadium Goes Silent: How Crowds Affect the Performance of Discriminated Groups," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 431-451.
    27. 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.
    28. Joseph Price & Justin Wolfers, 2012. "Biased Referees?: Reconciling Results With The Nba'S Analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 30(3), pages 320-328, July.
    29. David Berri & Stacey Brook & Aju Fenn, 2011. "From college to the pros: predicting the NBA amateur player draft," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 25-35, February.
    30. Jesse L. Schroffel & Christopher S. P. Magee, 2012. "Own-Race Bias Among NBA Coaches," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 130-151, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Matteo Pazzona & Nicola Spagnolo, 2024. "Do not shut up and do dribble: social media and TV consumption," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Todd McFall & John Whitehead, 2024. "Measuring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elite Swimming Performance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(5), pages 634-656, June.

    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. Mauro Caselli & Paolo Falco & Gianpiero Mattera, 2023. "When the Stadium Goes Silent: How Crowds Affect the Performance of Discriminated Groups," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 431-451.
    2. Chowdhury, Subhasish M. & Jewell, Sarah & Singleton, Carl, 2024. "Can awareness reduce (and reverse) identity-driven bias in judgement? Evidence from international cricket," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    3. Fabrizio Colella & Patricio S. Dalton & Giovanni Giusti, 2024. "Moral Support and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4614-4628, July.
    4. Carsten Creutzburg & Wolfgang Maennig & Steffen Q. Mueller, 2024. "From bias to bliss: Racial preferences and worker productivity in tennis," Working Papers 075, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    5. Richard Faltings & Alex Krumer & Michael Lechner, 2023. "Rot‐Jaune‐Verde: On linguistic bias of referees in Swiss soccer," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 380-406, August.
    6. Kai Fischer & Justus Haucap, 2022. "Home advantage in professional soccer and betting market efficiency: The role of spectator crowds," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 294-316, May.
    7. Michael Christian Leitner & Frank Daumann & Florian Follert & Fabio Richlan, 2023. "The cauldron has cooled down: a systematic literature review on home advantage in football during the COVID-19 pandemic from a socio-economic and psychological perspective," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 605-633, June.
    8. Alex Farnell, 2023. "False Start? An Analysis of NFL Penalties With and Without Crowds," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 24(6), pages 695-716, August.
    9. Butler, David & Butler, Robert & Singleton, Carl, 2025. "Objective Calls Under the Spotlight: Referee Consistency and Behaviour on Football's Biggest Stage," IZA Discussion Papers 17718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Kai Fischer & Justus Haucap, 2021. "Does Crowd Support Drive the Home Advantage in Professional Football? Evidence from German Ghost Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(8), pages 982-1008, December.
    11. Camilo Abbate & Jeffrey Cross & Richard Uhrig, 2025. "Video assistant referee and home field advantage: Implications for referee bias," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 91(3), pages 1176-1196, January.
    12. Carl Singleton & Alex Bryson & Peter Dolton & James Reade & Dominik Schreyer, 2022. "Economics lessons from sports during the COVID-19 pandemic," Chapters, in: Paul M. Pedersen (ed.), Research Handbook on Sport and COVID-19, chapter 2, pages 9-18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Paul Bose & Eberhard Feess & Helge Mueller, 2022. "Favoritism towards High-Status Clubs: Evidence from German Soccer," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 422-478.
    14. David J. Berri & Christian Deutscher & Arturo Galletti, 2015. "Born in the USA: National Origin Effects on Time Allocation in US and Spanish Professional Basketball," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 232(1), pages 41-50, May.
    15. Majid Ahmadi & Gwen-Jiro Clochard & Jeff Lachman & John List, 2025. "Toward an Understanding of Discrimination When Multiple Channels Exist," Framed Field Experiments 00802, The Field Experiments Website.
    16. Scott Tainsky & Brian M. Mills & Jason A. Winfree, 2015. "Further Examination of Potential Discrimination Among MLB Umpires," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(4), pages 353-374, May.
    17. Colella, F. & Dalton, Patricio & Giusti, G., 2021. "All you Need is Love : The Effect of Moral Support on Performance (Revision of CentER DP 2018-026)," Discussion Paper 2021-005, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    18. Carl Singleton & J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer, 2023. "A decade of violence and empty stadiums in Egypt: when does emotion from the terraces affect behaviour on the pitch?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1487-1507, September.
    19. Wen‐Jhan Jane, 2022. "Choking or excelling under pressure: Evidence of the causal effect of audience size on performance," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 329-357, January.
    20. Fabio Richlan & J. Lukas Thürmer & Jeremias Braid & Patrick Kastner & Michael Christian Leitner, 2023. "Subjective experience, self-efficacy, and motivation of professional football referees during the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    discrimination; harassment; racism; performance; basketball; NBA; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • Z22 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Labor Issues

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:glodps:1178. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    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.