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Impacts Of The Great Recession On Sport: Evidence From English Football League Attendance Demand

Author

Listed:
  • Babatunde Buraimo
  • Giuseppe Migali
  • Rob Simmons

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the 2007-09 Great Recession on attendance demand in the English Football League. We identify causal effects of variations in local unemployment rates on club matchday attendances using a difference-in-difference methodology applied to specific treatment and control group clubs categorised according to severity of local unemployment increase during the recession period. We find that treatment clubs in tiers 3 and 4 suffered an attendance reduction of around 9 per cent purely through rising unemployment in local areas close to clubs’ stadia after controlling for a large set of confounding influences. This result is robust to several alternative specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Babatunde Buraimo & Giuseppe Migali & Rob Simmons, 2020. "Impacts Of The Great Recession On Sport: Evidence From English Football League Attendance Demand," Working Papers 202019, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:liv:livedp:202019
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    1. Dirk Semmelroth & Bernd Frick & Robert Simmons & Hojun Sung, 2022. "Where to Go Next? Examining the Effect of Franchise Expansion and Location on Game-Level Attendance in Major League Soccer," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 524-547, June.
    2. J. James Reade & Jan C. Van Ours, 2023. "How sensitive are sports fans to unemployment?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 324-330, February.

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    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z21 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Industry Studies

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