Document Type

Honors Thesis

Date of Award

Spring 2024

Abstract

This study examines the economic factors of demand that affect Americans’ desire to purchase tickets for professional sporting events. Most notably, it illustrates how changing household disposable income affects demand for the quality and quantity of attendance to NBA, NFL, and MLB games. Utilizing the total annual attendance of every U.S.-based professional team in these three leagues over a nine-year period, as well as the cost of tickets and other attendance-related expenses (e.g., concession prices), we obtain the total income elasticity of demand. This study then breaks down income elasticity of demand into both its quantity and quality components through Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation (SURE). The paper also accounts for supply and demand side controls to obtain an accurate depiction of market behavior. The research completed by this paper allows professional team front offices and local policy makers to better understand local fan bases and predict levels of demand among fluctuating economic conditions.

Advisor

Gregory Lubiani

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