Pub Date : 2023-03-08DOI: 10.1177/15270025231160757
Alex Krumer, Juan D. Moreno-Ternero
How to select participants for a sports tournament when they are divided into different sets, and one should find a fair number of slots for each set? We propose to address this question by resorting to standard tools from the fair allocation literature. To frame our discussion, we focus on the increase in the number of participating teams in the FIFA World Cup. We explore the allocation of additional slots among continental confederations. We consider 10 different allocations. Based on our analysis, we can argue that the European soccer confederation (UEFA) has a solid basis to claim for additional slots.
{"title":"The Allocation of Additional Slots for the FIFA World Cup","authors":"Alex Krumer, Juan D. Moreno-Ternero","doi":"10.1177/15270025231160757","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231160757","url":null,"abstract":"How to select participants for a sports tournament when they are divided into different sets, and one should find a fair number of slots for each set? We propose to address this question by resorting to standard tools from the fair allocation literature. To frame our discussion, we focus on the increase in the number of participating teams in the FIFA World Cup. We explore the allocation of additional slots among continental confederations. We consider 10 different allocations. Based on our analysis, we can argue that the European soccer confederation (UEFA) has a solid basis to claim for additional slots.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48974299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-08DOI: 10.1177/15270025231160759
L. Beaudin
Fifty years after Title IX, inequalities still exist between men's and women's sports. Most sport studies still fail to examine women's sports. This study explores the cross-quality impacts of Division I baseball and softball teams. The softball team win percentage is positively related to softball and baseball game attendance. However, models produce mixed results for the impact of the quality of the baseball team. Therefore, improving the strength of the softball team could increase softball and baseball game attendance, while improving the strength of the baseball team might only increase attendance at baseball games.
{"title":"Cross-Quality Impacts of NCAA Division I Baseball and Softball","authors":"L. Beaudin","doi":"10.1177/15270025231160759","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231160759","url":null,"abstract":"Fifty years after Title IX, inequalities still exist between men's and women's sports. Most sport studies still fail to examine women's sports. This study explores the cross-quality impacts of Division I baseball and softball teams. The softball team win percentage is positively related to softball and baseball game attendance. However, models produce mixed results for the impact of the quality of the baseball team. Therefore, improving the strength of the softball team could increase softball and baseball game attendance, while improving the strength of the baseball team might only increase attendance at baseball games.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44637959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-07DOI: 10.1177/15270025231160761
C. Magee, Amy M Wolaver
This paper investigates how crowds affect the timing of events during football matches. In theory, the presence of fans influences the urgency of the players on the field, and the magnitude of this effect grows during the match. Thus, crowds should lead to a faster increase during the match in goals scored, yellow cards, red cards, and penalty kicks. We test the hypothesis using a data set including pandemic ghost games and we find strong support for the hypothesis as it relates to goals, yellow cards, and penalty kicks but not as it relates to red cards.
{"title":"Crowds and the Timing of Goals and Referee Decisions","authors":"C. Magee, Amy M Wolaver","doi":"10.1177/15270025231160761","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231160761","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates how crowds affect the timing of events during football matches. In theory, the presence of fans influences the urgency of the players on the field, and the magnitude of this effect grows during the match. Thus, crowds should lead to a faster increase during the match in goals scored, yellow cards, red cards, and penalty kicks. We test the hypothesis using a data set including pandemic ghost games and we find strong support for the hypothesis as it relates to goals, yellow cards, and penalty kicks but not as it relates to red cards.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42696569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-19DOI: 10.1177/15270025231156052
David Butler, Robbie Butler, Joel G. Maxcy, S. Woodworth
We examine the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis and consider direct demand for professional boxing using a new dataset for basic cable broadcasts. Our analysis covers 103 broadcasts in the United States from February 2017 to February 2021 for Premier Boxing Champions (FOX) and Top Rank Boxing (ESPN). Using a generalized linear model, we estimate a demand function for basic cable broadcasts and place specific emphasis on adopting alternative measures of outcome uncertainty. We find no evidence that increasing balance between boxers increases viewership figures on basic cable broadcasts. Consistent with pay-per-view boxing viewership, our results demonstrate that bout quality impacts demand for cable broadcasts. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a declining viewership trend, a finding relevant to the industry given the general decrease in viewership trends for main events and pay-per-view broadcasts. Fans continue to demonstrate a preference for the welterweight division.
{"title":"Outcome Uncertainty and Viewer Demand for Basic Cable Boxing","authors":"David Butler, Robbie Butler, Joel G. Maxcy, S. Woodworth","doi":"10.1177/15270025231156052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231156052","url":null,"abstract":"We examine the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis and consider direct demand for professional boxing using a new dataset for basic cable broadcasts. Our analysis covers 103 broadcasts in the United States from February 2017 to February 2021 for Premier Boxing Champions (FOX) and Top Rank Boxing (ESPN). Using a generalized linear model, we estimate a demand function for basic cable broadcasts and place specific emphasis on adopting alternative measures of outcome uncertainty. We find no evidence that increasing balance between boxers increases viewership figures on basic cable broadcasts. Consistent with pay-per-view boxing viewership, our results demonstrate that bout quality impacts demand for cable broadcasts. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a declining viewership trend, a finding relevant to the industry given the general decrease in viewership trends for main events and pay-per-view broadcasts. Fans continue to demonstrate a preference for the welterweight division.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48097369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-17DOI: 10.1177/15270025231156058
N. Watanabe, B. Soebbing, Tarlan Chahardovali, Yinle Huang
Despite its long-standing history as the most popular and mainstream combat sport, boxing has been confronted with increased competition from mixed martial arts (MMA) in recent decades. The dominant organization in the MMA market, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has grown to become a multibillion dollar organization. In this article, we directly compare consumer interest and fighter compensation between boxing and the UFC to consider the economic potential for these combat sports into the future. Overall, our conclusions indicate that boxing has continued to be more lucrative as a whole, with the key factor being the presence of superstar athletes.
{"title":"The Emergence of Mixed Martial-Arts and the Future of Boxing: An Analysis of Consumer Interest and Compensation","authors":"N. Watanabe, B. Soebbing, Tarlan Chahardovali, Yinle Huang","doi":"10.1177/15270025231156058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231156058","url":null,"abstract":"Despite its long-standing history as the most popular and mainstream combat sport, boxing has been confronted with increased competition from mixed martial arts (MMA) in recent decades. The dominant organization in the MMA market, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has grown to become a multibillion dollar organization. In this article, we directly compare consumer interest and fighter compensation between boxing and the UFC to consider the economic potential for these combat sports into the future. Overall, our conclusions indicate that boxing has continued to be more lucrative as a whole, with the key factor being the presence of superstar athletes.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48897847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-15DOI: 10.1177/15270025231156051
K. Zawadzki, Marcin Potrykus
This study attempts to estimate the impact of the announcements of hosts of large sporting events on domestic stock markets. The research problem is to establish a connection between the uniqueness of a sporting event and investors’ beliefs through stock price behavior. Using appropriate estimation windows, 13 different sporting events classified as large, including mega and major events, were tested. The obtained results show that, in principle, one day after the announcement of the host of a large sporting event, an average positive reaction of 0.22% is observed on national stock exchanges. The analyzed events were also classified as being neutral for capital markets or generating positive or negative reactions when the host country is announced to the public.
{"title":"Stock Markets’ Reactions to the Announcement of the Hosts. An Event Study in the Analysis of Large Sporting Events in the Years 1976–2032","authors":"K. Zawadzki, Marcin Potrykus","doi":"10.1177/15270025231156051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025231156051","url":null,"abstract":"This study attempts to estimate the impact of the announcements of hosts of large sporting events on domestic stock markets. The research problem is to establish a connection between the uniqueness of a sporting event and investors’ beliefs through stock price behavior. Using appropriate estimation windows, 13 different sporting events classified as large, including mega and major events, were tested. The obtained results show that, in principle, one day after the announcement of the host of a large sporting event, an average positive reaction of 0.22% is observed on national stock exchanges. The analyzed events were also classified as being neutral for capital markets or generating positive or negative reactions when the host country is announced to the public.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42538018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-01DOI: 10.1177/15270025221120591
Michael Cary, Heather Stephens
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk of travelling, working, and participating in public events. To test whether there were gendered differences in the response to COVID-19, we examine the behavior of male and female professional tennis players. We use data from major tennis tournaments which included a rather large number of athletes withdrawing from play. After controlling for past performance, wealth, and other relevant player attributes, we find that female tennis players were more likely to withdraw. This suggests that high-earning women may have greater risk aversion, especially related to COVID-19, than their male counterparts. Importantly, women were more risk-averse when it comes to international travel.
{"title":"Gendered Consequences of COVID-19 Among Professional Tennis Players.","authors":"Michael Cary, Heather Stephens","doi":"10.1177/15270025221120591","DOIUrl":"10.1177/15270025221120591","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk of travelling, working, and participating in public events. To test whether there were gendered differences in the response to COVID-19, we examine the behavior of male and female professional tennis players. We use data from major tennis tournaments which included a rather large number of athletes withdrawing from play. After controlling for past performance, wealth, and other relevant player attributes, we find that female tennis players were more likely to withdraw. This suggests that high-earning women may have greater risk aversion, especially related to COVID-19, than their male counterparts. Importantly, women were more risk-averse when it comes to international travel.</p>","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9420736/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43755042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-17DOI: 10.1177/15270025221148995
Y. H. Lee, R. Fort
The analysis of outcome uncertainty (OU) and competitive balance (CB) has been of overwhelming importance in sports economics. Surprisingly, there is little work on the impact of the structure of play on either OU or CB. Balanced and unbalanced schedules, and division play have been used to analyze biasedness of CB measures. And the impact of the introduction of unbalanced schedules on OU has been analyzed. But the impact of the introduction of both unbalanced schedules and division play on OU has not been analyzed. In this paper, we assess the impacts on OU, for given choices of CB (OU/CB) of moving to division play. This includes the impact of schedule imbalance, division strength, the number of teams, and the number of divisions. We also obtain estimates of their marginal impacts on OU/CB via numerical analysis and regression. The results are compared to OU/CB from unbiased estimators, for the case of the introduction of division play in Major League Baseball. The results suggest that the approach is useful and there are policy implications.
{"title":"Division Play and Outcome Uncertainty in Sports Leagues","authors":"Y. H. Lee, R. Fort","doi":"10.1177/15270025221148995","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025221148995","url":null,"abstract":"The analysis of outcome uncertainty (OU) and competitive balance (CB) has been of overwhelming importance in sports economics. Surprisingly, there is little work on the impact of the structure of play on either OU or CB. Balanced and unbalanced schedules, and division play have been used to analyze biasedness of CB measures. And the impact of the introduction of unbalanced schedules on OU has been analyzed. But the impact of the introduction of both unbalanced schedules and division play on OU has not been analyzed. In this paper, we assess the impacts on OU, for given choices of CB (OU/CB) of moving to division play. This includes the impact of schedule imbalance, division strength, the number of teams, and the number of divisions. We also obtain estimates of their marginal impacts on OU/CB via numerical analysis and regression. The results are compared to OU/CB from unbiased estimators, for the case of the introduction of division play in Major League Baseball. The results suggest that the approach is useful and there are policy implications.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48741097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-17DOI: 10.1177/15270025221148991
R. Arscott
The team totals and point spread betting lines jointly predict team scores in college football games. The gambling market’s score predictions are shown to be biased due to censoring at zero points. This presents arbitrage opportunities for gamblers who place wagers on the team totals line in cases for which expected bias is high. A naïve betting strategy that exploits this bias using only information contained within the two betting lines themselves yields a win percentage of over 55 percent over the past two decades. This significantly exceeds the typical transaction costs associated with wagers, indicating the market is semi-strong inefficient.
{"title":"Market Efficiency and Censoring Bias in College Football Gambling","authors":"R. Arscott","doi":"10.1177/15270025221148991","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025221148991","url":null,"abstract":"The team totals and point spread betting lines jointly predict team scores in college football games. The gambling market’s score predictions are shown to be biased due to censoring at zero points. This presents arbitrage opportunities for gamblers who place wagers on the team totals line in cases for which expected bias is high. A naïve betting strategy that exploits this bias using only information contained within the two betting lines themselves yields a win percentage of over 55 percent over the past two decades. This significantly exceeds the typical transaction costs associated with wagers, indicating the market is semi-strong inefficient.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48310724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-08DOI: 10.1177/15270025221148997
A. Farnell
The lack of crowds at sports fixtures as a result of COVID-19 restrictions has allowed researchers a unique opportunity to examine the widely accepted convention of home advantage. This work takes a slightly different approach, by examining within game outcomes. Specifically using play-by-play data from the NFL, this paper asks whether the lack of crowds aided a Quarterback's ability to manipulate opposition defenses. Results suggest this was the case, though effects are not uniform by home and away team.
{"title":"False Start? An Analysis of NFL Penalties With and Without Crowds","authors":"A. Farnell","doi":"10.1177/15270025221148997","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025221148997","url":null,"abstract":"The lack of crowds at sports fixtures as a result of COVID-19 restrictions has allowed researchers a unique opportunity to examine the widely accepted convention of home advantage. This work takes a slightly different approach, by examining within game outcomes. Specifically using play-by-play data from the NFL, this paper asks whether the lack of crowds aided a Quarterback's ability to manipulate opposition defenses. Results suggest this was the case, though effects are not uniform by home and away team.","PeriodicalId":51522,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sports Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49322513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}