Behavioral Responses to Sporting Contest Design: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Sporting contests are designed to elicit an effort from contestants. Well-designed contests have beneficial behavioral responses of competitors such as increased effort which results in higher quality of competition. However, poorly designed contests may not reward the best competitor or may elicit unethical behaviors. This article reviews the literature on sporting contest design, paying particular attention to empirical studies over the last 20 years. Topic areas include different contest designs in a single sport, scheduling of contests and individual games, contest rule changes and game rule changes, and unintended behavioral consequences of sporting contest design.