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On The Optimal Realignment Of A Contest: The Case Of College Football

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  • Stefan Szymanski
  • Jason Winfree

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between demand and scheduling in college football. We first derive two different metrics for team quality, and then use those metrics to see how they impact attendance. We find that there is a positive interaction between the quality of the teams. Then various simulations are run to see how attendance would change under different scheduling scenarios. If teams are put into conferences based on the team quality measures, the average per game attendance only rises 1–2%. This is true if 1‐year or 10‐year quality measures are used. However, our simulation suggests that this effect would be more than offset, mainly because schools with larger capacity would play fewer home games and so aggregate attendance would fall. We discuss whether this effect would be mitigated by capacity adjustments in the longer term. (JEL L83, Z20, C78)

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  • Stefan Szymanski & Jason Winfree, 2018. "On The Optimal Realignment Of A Contest: The Case Of College Football," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 483-496, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:56:y:2018:i:1:p:483-496
    DOI: 10.1111/ecin.12493
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jason A. Winfree, 2020. "Rivalries, Bowl Eligibility, and Scheduling Effects in College Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 477-492, June.
    3. Craig A. Depken & Adam J. Hoffer & Abdul H. Kidwai, 2022. "An artefactual field experiment of group discrimination between sports fans," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 411-432, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General
    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory

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