Articles in this issue:

  • Rodney J. Paul
    Andrew P. Weinbach

    Levitt (2004) suggested that sportsbooks do not set prices in the NFL to clear markets, as was commonly assumed, but set prices to maximize profits. This paper uses actual betting data from four sportsbooks to test the Levitt (2004) hypothesis in the NBA. For a sample of the 2004-05 to 2006-07 seasons, it is shown that favorites receive a disproportionate share of NBA pointspread bets. In addition, the percentage of bets the favorite receives increases with each additional point of the pointspread. In the totals market, it is shown that overs receive a much higher percentage of bets...Read more

  • Babatunde Buraimo
    Rob Simmons

    After controlling for a number of plausible influences on matchday attendance in the English Premier League, and with appropriate recognition of the censoring problem in stadium capacities, we find clear evidence that an increase in uncertainty of outcome is associated with reduced gate attendance. The conventional uncertainty of outcome hypothesis proposes precisely the opposite effect. We interpret this as suggesting that fans at EPL games, who are predominantly supporters of the home team, prefer to see their team play a much inferior team (and beat that team) rather than attend a game...Read more

  • David Forrest
    Ian McHale
    Kevin McAuley

    The paper identifies key changes in the betting environment that have raised risks to the integrity of sport. The risks are discussed in the context of a model where potential fixers evaluate the costs and benefits to them of engaging in manipulation of events on the field for betting gain. Using this framework, particular markets and situations are indicated as especially susceptible to corruption and these predictions appear to be consistent with the set of cases that have been exposed in contemporary sport. Possible policy responses are discussed.Read more

  • Jaume García
    Leví Pérez
    Plácido Rodríguez

    Having a top professional sport team in a geographical area has many potential economic impacts. In this paper we analyze the effect of having a professional football team in the Spanish First or Second Division in a certain province on the amount of sales of football pools in Spain (La Quiniela). To carry out the empirical exercise we estimate a demand equation using a panel data set at the provincial level for the years 1985-2005, merging the traditional economic models in the lotto demand literature: the effective price model and the jackpot model. Our results show that having a club in...Read more

  • Arne Feddersen

    One of the central particularities in sports leagues is the fact that the clubs compete with each other on the input markets but are obliged to cooperate on the output market (i.e., the league¡¯s games). In order to maximize jointly produced league output, one often hears calls for policy changes to ensure optimal competitive balance in leagues. Supporters of these policy changes often argue that the dominance of one, or a few, teams will lead to unequal revenues across clubs, consolidation of the clubs¡¯ level of relative sporting performance, and thus to a helix of sporting and economic...Read more