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Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Hidden Subsidies And The Public Ownership Of Sports Facilities: The Case Of Levi’S Stadium In Santa Clara, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson, Debra O'Connor
Hidden Subsidies And The Public Ownership Of Sports Facilities: The Case Of Levi’S Stadium In Santa Clara, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson, Debra O'Connor
Economics Department Working Papers
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California is an example of a private financing / public ownership arrangement. While the stadium’s construction resulted in no direct tax increases, this ownership arrangement allows the San Francisco 49ers to avoid many types of taxes on the income generated from Levi’s Stadium. We estimate the total tax savings to the 49ers at between $106 and $213 million over the first 20 years of Levi’s Stadium compared with a privately financed and owned option. We argue that tax savings inherent in private financing / public ownership arrangements represent indirect and hidden subsidies.
An Evaluation Of The Economic Impact Of National Football League Mega-Events, Robert Baade, Victor Matheson
An Evaluation Of The Economic Impact Of National Football League Mega-Events, Robert Baade, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper evaluates the magnitude and the economic impact of NFL mega-events including the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. The paper also reviews the theory behind the usual findings that the observed economic benefits of mega-events are almost always a fraction of the benefits claimed a priori.
International Women's Soccer And Gender Inequality: Revisited, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
International Women's Soccer And Gender Inequality: Revisited, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
A number of authors have identified the determinants of success in international sporting competitions such as the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup. This paper serves to update past work on international women’s soccer performance given the rapid development of the game over the past decade. We compare the determinants of men’s international soccer team performance with that of their female counterparts and find that a different set of variables are important in explaining success for the two genders. While economic and demographic influences hold for both, the impacts of specific political and cultural factors diverge. In particular, Latin heritage predicts …
The Effect Of Sports Franchises On Property Values: The Role Of Owners Versus Renters, Katherine A. Kiel, Victor Matheson, Christopher Sullivan
The Effect Of Sports Franchises On Property Values: The Role Of Owners Versus Renters, Katherine A. Kiel, Victor Matheson, Christopher Sullivan
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper estimates the public benefits to homeowners in cities with NFL franchises by examining housing prices rather than housing rents. In contrast to Carlino and Coulson (2004) we find that the presence of an NFL franchise has no effect on housing prices in a city. Furthermore, we also test whether the presence and size of the subsidy to the team affects values and find that higher subsidies for NFL stadium construction lead to lower house prices. This suggests that the benefits that homeowners receive from the presence of a team are negated by the increased tax burden due to …
Economics Of The Super Bowl, Victor Matheson
Economics Of The Super Bowl, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
The Super Bowl is America’s premier sporting event. This paper details basic economic facts about the game as examines the controversy surrounding the purported economic impact of the game on host communities. While the league and sports boosters claim that the game brings up to a $500 million economic impact to host cities, a review of the literature suggests that the true economic impact is a fraction of this amount.
Big Men On Campus: Estimating The Economic Impact Of College Sports On Local Economies, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Big Men On Campus: Estimating The Economic Impact Of College Sports On Local Economies, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
College football and men’s basketball are the largest revenue generators in college athletics. Studies funded by athletic boosters tout the economic benefits of a college athletic program as an incentive for host cities to construct new stadiums or arenas at considerable public expense. Our analysis of the economic impact of home football and men’s basketball games on Tallahassee (home of Florida State University) and Gainesville (home of the University of Florida) between 1980 to early-2007 fails to support these claims. Men’s basketball games at these universities have no statistically significant impact on taxable sales, while football yields a modest gain …
Nfl Governance And The Fate Of The New Orleans Saints: Some Observations, Robert Baade, Victor Matheson
Nfl Governance And The Fate Of The New Orleans Saints: Some Observations, Robert Baade, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Prior to 2005, New Orleans had struggled to retain its NFL franchise. The Saints remained in the city, despite an outdated stadium and small media market, only through generous direct public subsidies to the team. Paradoxically, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 actually improved the short-term viability of the franchise by spurring an outpouring of local support for the team and by making relocation of the Saints politically untenable for the league. The long-term outlook for the team, however, appears grim. Already a small market, New Orleans’ population and business community has declined considerably due to Katrina. …
Down, Set, Hike: The Economic Impact Of College Football Games On Local Economies, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Down, Set, Hike: The Economic Impact Of College Football Games On Local Economies, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper provides an empirical examination of the economic impact of spectator sports on local economies. Confirming the results of other ex post analyses of sports in general, this paper finds no statistically significant evidence that college football games in particular contribute positively to a host’s economy. Our analysis from 1970-2004 of 63 metropolitan areas that play host to big-time college football programs finds that neither the number of home games played, the winning percentage of the local team, nor winning a national championship has a discernable impact on either employment or personal income in the cities where the teams …
Have Public Finance Principles Been Shut Out In Financing New Sports Stadiums For The Nfl In The United States?, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Have Public Finance Principles Been Shut Out In Financing New Sports Stadiums For The Nfl In The United States?, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Economics Department Working Papers
Over the past 15 years, new stadiums in the National Football League have been built at an unprecedented rate, and most new facilities have utilized significant public funds. This paper looks at whether the methods used to finance these new facilities honored public finance principles regarding equity, efficiency, and transparency. An examination of the 20 NFL stadiums constructed or refurbished since 1992 reveals a trend towards more voter referendums and an increase reliance on taxation of visitors through hotel and rental car taxes. Although taxation of persons living outside one’s own metropolitan area is appealing, this paper suggests that the …
Padding Required: Assessing The Economic Impact Of The Super Bowl, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Padding Required: Assessing The Economic Impact Of The Super Bowl, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Economics Department Working Papers
Civic boosters generally have estimated the Super Bowl to have an impact of $300 to $400 million on a host city’s economy. The National Football League has used the promise of an economic windfall to convince skeptical cities that investments in new stadiums for their teams in exchange for the right to host the event makes economic sense. Evidence from host cities from 1970-2001 indicates the Super Bowl contributes approximately one-quarter of what the boosters have promised and that the game could not have contributed by any reasonable standard of statistical significance, more than $300 million to host economies.