Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. This paper investigates the presence of compensating tendencies in the awarding of free shots in hurling. Probit models are estimated to examine whether free shots awarded are determined by the score margin, net free count, and net card count at the time. In addition, the effect of large attendances and home games on these compensating tendencies is captured using interaction effects. Clear evidence of compensating tendency effects if the team is behind on the score margin or behind on the free count are found. When the game is played in front of la ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. The proposal of the European Super League and the 2024/25 reform of the UEFA Champions League are both major events in European club football. This study compares the competitive balance (CB) of these new tournament formats with the previous Champions League format. Short-, mid- and long-term CB are quantified by measuring the average uncertainty of match outcomes, the ratio of stakeless matches, and the recurrence ratio of teams in knockout rounds. A simulation method is applied using the teams, their seeding, and Elo ratings in the 2020/21 and 202 ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. Although air pollution is an important practical and theoretical issue, the impact of air pollution on game outcomes has not yet been comprehensively investigated. Therefore, by using data from the Chinese Football Association Super League, this study examined the impact of the Air Quality Index and six major air pollutants on game outcomes. Results show that air pollution is negatively and significantly related to game outcomes and is heterogeneous between home teams and away teams. The results extend the knowledge of air pollution studies and spor ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. Identifying anomalies, or empirical facts that contradict theoretical predictions, is a common form of proof by contradiction in economics and finance. We identify an apparent pricing anomaly in the market for trading cards: large and persistent death effects of about 20% are observed following the death of legendary baseball players. Rational investors should anticipate each player's eventual death, so these results suggest that profit opportunities are being left on the table. The arguably causal estimates come from interrupted time series models ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. This paper aims to understand how much elite swimmers’ training plans for the 2020 Olympics were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic and to measure the effect the interruption had on performances at the United States Olympic Trials Swimming Meet, held in June 2021. To understand better the extent of the disruption caused by the pandemic, we surveyed swimmers and their coaches prior to the meet and found plans were altered in a number of dimensions, including time in the pool, time spent on complementary training activities like weightlifting, and the n ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. An exponentially increasing trend of players’ registration prices has taken place since 2012, and we test the hypothesis that this may be a speculative bubble, using a structural break test (Chow test) on a data set of international soccer players' registration prices, that ranges from 2007 to 2019. The test confirms the presence of an abrupt change in the trend of these prices since the year 2012, both for the whole data set and for subgroups based on the types of competition considered (Champions League, Europa League, and residual) and on the age ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. This article examines the effect of televised international sporting events (e.g., FIFA World Cup or Summer Olympics) on crime in Jamaica. We use a fixed effects model that compares, within each police division, the level of crime that occurs during these international sporting events to the rate of crime on similar days when these events are not occurring. We found that on days when the FIFA World Cup matches are held, there is a reduction in the number of murders (23.3%), shootings (20%), break-ins (19.4%), and robberies (11.7%), relative to the a ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. This study examines the well-being and social value of playing different forms of soccer for men and women by employing the compensating variation approach to survey data from eight European countries. Framed by the desired objective of Title IX, this research assesses possible gender differences in the social benefits of sport. Social values are higher than the well-being derived from playing soccer, with the values of both being greater for women. Less formal forms of soccer yield generally higher monetary values than the competitive 11-a-side for ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. Over the past decade, the issue of player compensation in college sports has been the subject of several successful legal challenges. Athletes contend that the compensation they receive falls significantly short of the value they generate, attributing this gap to unlawful National Collegiate Athletic Association restrictions. Numerous tools exist in the sports economic literature that estimate the value of college athletes, with an emphasized focus toward premium college football players. In addition to providing updated estimate of player marginal ..read more

Journal of Sports Economics, Ahead of Print. How do migrant social networks matter for performance in the job? We examine this by constructing a nationality-based network of foreign newcomers when they first begin to play in the PGA TOUR and examine the impact of this initial social network on newcomers’ probability of surviving (i.e., keeping their license) at the end of their inaugural PGA TOUR season. We find that the migrant social network matters among the non-elite group of players in the second tier of the PGA TOUR, but not among the elite group of players in the first tier of the PGA T ..read more