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Stadium Construction And Minor League Baseball Attendance

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  • SETH R. GITTER
  • THOMAS A. RHOADS

Abstract

The established literature shows that new stadium construction for major league baseball (MLB) teams can increase attendance, but there are limited studies at the minor league level. We use a data set encompassing all A, AA, and AAA minor league baseball teams from 1992 to 2006 to estimate the impact of stadium construction on minor league attendance. This data set includes almost 200 teams, over half of which constructed a new stadium during the 15-year observation period. Over a ten year period our results show that new stadiums increase attendance by 1.2 million fans at the AAA level, 0.4 million at the AA and high A level, and 0.2 million at short season low A. Additionally, we find evidence that minor and major league baseball are potentially substitutes as increased ticket prices for the nearest MLB team lead to higher minor league attendance. However, a new stadium for local MLB teams does not seem to negatively impact minor league attendance.
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Suggested Citation

  • Seth R. Gitter & Thomas A. Rhoads, 2014. "Stadium Construction And Minor League Baseball Attendance," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 144-154, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:32:y:2014:i:1:p:144-154
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/coep.12016
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter A. Groothuis & Bruce K. Johnson & John C. Whitehead, 2004. "Public Funding of Professional Sports Stadiums: Public Choice or Civic Pride?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 515-526, Fall.
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    8. Lorna Gifis & Paul Sommers, 2006. "Promotions and Attendance in Minor League Baseball," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 34(4), pages 513-514, December.
    9. AC. Krautmann & E. Gustafson & L. Hadley, 2000. "Who pays for minor league training costs?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 37-47, January.
    10. Michael Davis, 2007. "Income and the Locations of AAA Minor League Baseball Teams," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 35(3), pages 371-372, September.
    11. Christopher M. Clapp & Jahn K. Hakes, 2005. "How Long a Honeymoon? The Effect of New Stadiums on Attendance in Major League Baseball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 6(3), pages 237-263, August.
    12. Jason A. Winfree & Rodney Fort, 2008. "Fan Substitution and the 2004-05 NHL Lockout," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(4), pages 425-434, August.
    13. Seth R. Gitter & Thomas A. Rhoads, 2010. "Determinants of Minor League Baseball Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(6), pages 614-628, December.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Honey Moon is Over in Lancaster
      by Seth Gitter in the blog of diminishing returns on 2010-06-24 19:04:00
    2. Why Sports and Sports Economics Matter
      by Seth Gitter in The Blog of Diminishing Returns on 2012-06-20 00:08:00
    3. Hagerstown Stadium Construction
      by Seth Gitter in The Blog of Diminishing Returns on 2012-08-07 18:38:00
    4. How Academic Publishing is like a Football Drive
      by Seth Gitter in The Blog of Diminishing Returns on 2012-09-12 18:40:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Budzinski, Oliver & Feddersen, Arne, 2015. "Grundlagen der Sportnachfrage: Theorie und Empirie der Einflussfaktoren auf die Zuschauernachfrage," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 94, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    2. Stefan Szymanski, 2023. "Anticipating the honeymoon: Event study estimation of new stadium effects in Major League Baseball using the imputation method," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 1077-1102, October.
    3. Agha, Nola & Rascher, Daniel, 2013. "When can economic impact be positive? Nine conditions that explain why smaller sports can have bigger impacts," MPRA Paper 48016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Seth R. Gitter & Thomas A. Rhoads, 2011. "Top Prospects and Minor League Baseball Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(3), pages 341-351, June.
    5. Nola Agha & Thomas Rhoads, 2016. "The League Standing Effect: The Case of a Split Season in Minor League Baseball," Working Papers 2016-13, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2016.
    6. Brian P Soebbing & Daniel S Mason & Brad R Humphreys, 2016. "Novelty effects and sports facilities in smaller cities: Evidence from Canadian hockey arenas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(8), pages 1674-1690, June.

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