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American Baseball Fans Do Not Influence Game Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy E. Zimmer

    (University Of Indianapolis)

  • Allison Snyder

    (University of Indianapolis)

  • Lawrence Bukenya

    (University of Indianapolis)

Abstract

The paper examines U. S. Major League Baseball (MLB) data to evaluate home-field advantage and the relationship between fan attendance and game outcomes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were not allowed in stadiums during the 2020 MLB regular season. The results indicate the absence of fans did not statistically alter home-field advantage when controlling for quality of play.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy E. Zimmer & Allison Snyder & Lawrence Bukenya, 2021. "American Baseball Fans Do Not Influence Game Outcomes," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 741-750.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-21-00057
    as

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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2021/Volume41/EB-21-V41-I2-P67.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Babatunde Buraimo, 2008. "Stadium attendance and television audience demand in English league football," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 513-523.
    2. Daniel R. Marburger, 1997. "Optimal ticket pricing for performance goods," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(5), pages 375-381.
    3. Whitney, James D, 1988. "Winning Games versus Winning Championships: The Economics of Fan Interest and Team Performance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(4), pages 703-724, October.
    4. Ira Horowitz, 2007. "If you play well they will come-and vice versa: bidirectional causality in major-league baseball," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 93-105.
    5. Anthony C. Krautmann & Lawrence Hadley, 2006. "Dynasties versus pennant races: competitive balance in major league baseball," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 287-292.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Christian Leitner & Frank Daumann & Florian Follert & Fabio Richlan, 2023. "The cauldron has cooled down: a systematic literature review on home advantage in football during the COVID-19 pandemic from a socio-economic and psychological perspective," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 605-633, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Baseball; Home-Field_Advantage; Attendance; Fan Influence; Winning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

    Statistics

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