Articles in this issue:

  • Brad R. Humphreys

    An introduction to a special issue of IJSF: Communities and Sport Finance: New Perspectives.Read more

  • Andrew Zimbalist
    Judith Grant Long

     Conventional wisdom has it that the public share of stadium and arena construction costs has been falling in recent years. Many have attributed this perceived decrease in part to the emergence of the academic literature in the 1990s, finding that one cannot expect that a new team or sport facility by itself would promote economic development in an area. We find that the conventional wisdom is incorrect. In this paper, we use both the available reported cost data as well as adjusted cost data and find that trends in public financing are considerably more complex than...Read more

  • Mark S. Rosentraub

    Governments still labor to form public/private partnerships to develop sports facilities that will retain teams while also creating benefits for communities. This work is undertaken as advocates point to a stream of possible benefits from a new sports facility, while detractors argue a sports tax is nothing short of corporate welfare. This retrospective analysis of the experiences of several cities identifies the range of private and public benefits that can accrue and then highlights what Major League Baseball owners and players have gained from the era of new ballparks. With the level of...Read more

  • Daniel S. Mason

    This paper identifies the unique problems faced by Canadian small market (CSM) franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL). While featuring characteristics similar to other major leagues in North America, CSM franchises are also burdened by currency and taxation issues that favor US-based teams, as well as a reliance on gate revenues, which have exacerbated the problem for NHL teams. Three general alternatives devised to address the small market problem are introduced in this paper: (1) allow other stakeholders, such as levels of government, to subsidize weaker teams; (2) create revenue...Read more

  • Dennis Coates

    This study adds to our knowledge of the effects of mega-events like Super Bowls and Major League Baseball All Star games by looking specifically at a long time-series of monthly sales tax revenues to assess the impact of these events on the host city’s revenue. The analysis indicates that sales tax revenues in Houston may be statistically significantly higher as a result of the Super Bowl by as much as $5 million over the time of the game and its preceding festivities. The MLB All-Star game has a much smaller effect on revenues, though possibly as much as $1 million in extra sales tax...Read more

  • Michael C. Davis

    In this study we analyze the factors that determine whether a particular city has a minor league baseball team and the level at which that team competes. Using the generalized ordered logit model we determine that higher population, personal income, and time from nearest Major League Baseball team all have a positive effect on the city’s having a minor league baseball team and having one at a higher level. The finding that personal income has a positive effect on the level of the baseball team, combined with past studies suggesting income does not affect minor league baseball attendance,...Read more