Title: Striking out: estimating the economic impact of baseball's World Series

Authors: Victor A. Matheson, Robert A. Baade

Addresses: Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross, Box 157A Worcester, MA 01610, USA. ' Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA

Abstract: An empirical analysis of the economic impact of the Major League Baseball|s post-season on host-city economies from 1972–2000 suggests that any economic benefits from post-season appearances are small or non-existent. An examination of 129 playoff series finds that any increases in economic growth as a result of the playoffs are not statistically significantly different than zero and that a best guess of the economic impact is $6.8 million per home game. As a general method of economic development, public subsidisation of a baseball team|s attempt to reach the World Series in order to reap a city-wide financial windfall should be seen as a gamble at best.

Keywords: sports; baseball; World Series; playoffs; economic impact; Major League Baseball; host city economies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2008.017209

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2008 Vol.3 No.4, pp.319 - 334

Published online: 19 Feb 2008 *

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