Articles in this issue:

  • Jahn K. Hakes
    Christopher M. Clapp

    Using a panel of Major League Baseball team attendance data for the period 1950 to 2003, the authors determined that after controlling for team quality and other factors, a new modern era ballpark adds 22 to 30 percent to total attendance over a 10-year period and, on average, generated present-value stadium revenues of $272 million for the franchise. Since the construction costs for the group of 14 modern ballparks averaged $99 million in private money and $198 million in public funds, there were two results with important implications for public finance. First, the revenue estimates were...Read more

  • Stephen Morrow

    The paper investigates the selection of accounting policies for intangible assets in the Italian football industry, focusing on the effects of the so-called salva calcio decree. Introduced by the Italian government, the decree effectively permitted clubs to amortize the asset of players?registration rights over an arbitrary time period of 10 years rather than over the length of players?contracts, thus improving clubs?reported financial position and performance. While adoption of the salva calcio decree had no direct cash flow effect, it had indirect economic consequences. It is argued that...Read more

  • Matthew T. Brown
    Daniel A. Rascher
    Wesley M. Ward

    During the past decade there has been a proliferation of sports stadia being built in America’s municipal districts. While it used to be common for the public to fully fund stadium construction projects, over the past 20 years factors such as political motives, tax reform, and increased public awareness of tax equity have forced sports teams to share increasing amounts of the financial burden (Crompton, Howard, & Var, 2003). As public funding for stadia construction has decreased, franchises have continued to strive for maximized profits. Concurrently, the cost of attending events in...Read more

  • Brad R. Humphreys

    Do big-time college sports affect state appropriations to public colleges and universities? Little attention has been given to the possibility that big-time athletic programs generate economic benefits for a university at the state capital. The paper estimates a reduced form model of the determination of annual state appropriations to public universities, including institution-specific effects to control for unobservable factors like mission and reputation that could affect appropriations. The results suggest that institutions fielding Division I-A football programs receive 8% more in...Read more

  • Michael D. Raycraft

    A book review of From the Ballfield to the Boardroom: Management Lessons from Sports, by Brian GoffRead more