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Effects of large gatherings on the COVID-19 epidemic: Evidence from professional and college sports

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  • Carlin, Patrick R.
  • Minard, Paul
  • Simon, Daniel H.
  • Wing, Coady

Abstract

We compare COVID-19 case loads and mortality across counties that hosted more versus fewer NHL hockey games, NBA basketball games, and NCAA basketball games during the early months of 2020, before any large outbreaks were identified. We find that hosting one additional NHL/NBA game in March 2020 leads to an additional 7520 cases and 658 deaths. Similarly, we find that hosting an additional NCAA Division 1 men's basketball game in March 2020 results in an additional 34 deaths. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the per-game fatality costs were 200–300 times greater than per-game spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlin, Patrick R. & Minard, Paul & Simon, Daniel H. & Wing, Coady, 2021. "Effects of large gatherings on the COVID-19 epidemic: Evidence from professional and college sports," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:43:y:2021:i:c:s1570677x21000575
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2021.101033
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    6. Dave, Dhaval M. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Matsuzawa, Kyutaro & McNichols, Drew & Sabia, Joseph J., 2020. "Did the Wisconsin Supreme Court Restart a COVID-19 Epidemic? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 13314, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    11. Dhaval Dave & Andrew I. Friedson & Kyutaro Matsuzawa & Joseph J. Sabia, 2021. "When Do Shelter‐In‐Place Orders Fight Covid‐19 Best? Policy Heterogeneity Across States And Adoption Time," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(1), pages 29-52, January.
    12. Sumedha Gupta & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing, 2020. "Mandated and Voluntary Social Distancing During The COVID-19 Epidemic: A Review," NBER Working Papers 28139, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Sumedha Gupta & Thuy D. Nguyen & Felipe Lozano Rojas & Shyam Raman & Byungkyu Lee & Ana Bento & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing, 2020. "Tracking Public and Private Responses to the COVID-19 Epidemic: Evidence from State and Local Government Actions," NBER Working Papers 27027, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Alexander Cardazzi & Brad Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski & Brian P. Soebbing & Nicholas Watanabe, 2020. "Professional Sporting Events Increase Seasonal Influenza Mortality in US Cities," Working Papers 20-08, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
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    Cited by:

    1. González-Val, Rafael & Marcén, Miriam, 2022. "Mass gathering events and the spread of infectious diseases: Evidence from the early growth phase of COVID-19," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    2. Alexander Ahammer & Martin Halla & Mario Lackner, 2023. "Mass gatherings contributed to early COVID‐19 mortality: Evidence from US sports," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 471-488, July.
    3. Dhaval Dave & Drew McNichols & Joseph J. Sabia, 2022. "Political violence, risk aversion, and population health: Evidence from the US Capitol riot," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1345-1384, October.
    4. Themis Kokolakakis & Fernando Lera-Lopez & Girish Ramchandani, 2021. "Measuring the Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s Leisure and Sport during the 2020 Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Brad R. Humphreys & Gary A. Wagner & John C. Whitehead & Pamela Wicker, 2023. "Willingness to pay for policies to reduce health risks from COVID‐19: Evidence from U.S. professional sports," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 218-231, January.
    6. Martin Lange & Ole Monscheuer, 2022. "Spreading the disease: Protest in times of pandemics," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(12), pages 2664-2679, December.
    7. Krzysztof Zaremba, 2023. "Opening of hotels and ski facilities: Impact on mobility, spending, and Covid‐19 outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1148-1180, May.
    8. Fischer Kai, 2022. "Thinning out spectators: Did football matches contribute to the second COVID-19 wave in Germany?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 595-640, December.
    9. Dhaval Dave & Andrew Friedson & Kyutaro Matsuzawa & Drew McNichols & Connor Redpath & Joseph J. Sabia, 2021. "Risk avoidance, offsetting community effects, and COVID-19: Evidence from an indoor political rally," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 133-167, October.
    10. Esaka, Taro & Fujii, Takao, 2022. "Quantifying the impact of the Tokyo Olympics on COVID-19 cases using synthetic control methods," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Hiroaki Funahashi & Shintaro Sato & Takuya Furukawa, 2022. "COVID-19 and Attendance Demand for Professional Sport in Japan: A Multilevel Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional National Data during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-10, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Population health; Health economics; Quasi-experiments; Pandemics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management

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