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The Ebbs and Flows of the Game: Multiple Equilibria in a Sports League Model

Author

Listed:
  • Duane W. Rockerbie

    (Department of Economics, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, rockerbie@uleth.ca)

  • Stephen T. Easton

    (Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada)

Abstract

The history of professional sports leagues is rich with examples of clubs that enjoy success on the field for a number of seasons, only to fall back in subsequent seasons. Although some clubs achieve consistent success, and a few, consistent failure, most clubs display a cyclical pattern as they ‘‘make a run’’ for success, then take fallback positions. This behavior is difficult to explain using the now standard league model of Fort and Quirk. In this article, the authors discuss the likelihood of this cyclical behavior emerging in the standard model and then develop an extension to the model, which can generate movements between good (team success) and bad (team failure) equilibria. The authors then discuss the stability conditions for each equilibrium and the conditions under which a club might find one of these equilibria unsustainable in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Duane W. Rockerbie & Stephen T. Easton, 2010. "The Ebbs and Flows of the Game: Multiple Equilibria in a Sports League Model," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 172-185, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:11:y:2010:i:2:p:172-185
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002510363102
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rockerbie, Duane & Easton, Stephen, 2017. "Risk Diversification from Revenue Sharing in a Professional Sports League: Measuring Welfare Gains," MPRA Paper 77431, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Duane Rockerbie & Stephen Easton, 2018. "Revenue Sharing in Major League Baseball: The Moments That Meant so Much," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Rockerbie, Duane & Easton, Stephen, 2021. "Multiple Equilibria and Unsustainable Runs in Major League Baseball: More Evidence," MPRA Paper 109971, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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