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The “Second†Season

Author

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  • Neil Longley
  • Nelson J. Lacey

Abstract

Most research on competitive balance (CB) in North American sport leagues examines regular-season outcomes only, and does not analyze the potential impacts of postseason playoff tournaments. This article finds that playoffs do matter in a CB sense, in that they can substantially reconfigure regular-season outcomes. More importantly, they may reconfigure outcomes in a way that is not neutral with respect to payroll. The article finds, for example, that in the NHL over the 1994-2004 time period, team success in the playoffs was much less dependent on payroll than it was during the regular-season. The article also analyzes the differential impacts of the specific type of playoff tournament employed, and finds that the choice of playoff “pooling†structures directly impacts the probability of “upsets†occurring in the playoffs.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Longley & Nelson J. Lacey, 2012. "The “Second†Season," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(5), pages 471-493, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:13:y:2012:i:5:p:471-493
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002511410932
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Dawson, Peter & Massey, Patrick & Downward, Paul, 2020. "Television match officials, referees, and home advantage: Evidence from the European Rugby Cup," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 443-454.
    2. John Considine & Liam Gallagher, 2018. "Competitive balance in a quasi-double knockout tournament," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(18), pages 2048-2055, April.
    3. R. Alan Bowman & James Lambrinos & Thomas Ashman, 2018. "Prospective measures of competitive balance application to money lines in the national hockey league," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(46), pages 4925-4936, October.
    4. Jiří LahviÄ ka, 2015. "The Impact of Playoffs on Seasonal Uncertainty in the Czech Ice Hockey Extraliga," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(7), pages 784-801, October.

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