The Impact of Postseason Restructuring on the Competitive Balance and Fan Demand in Major League Baseball

Young Hoon Lee

Journal of Sports Economics, 2009, vol. 10, issue 3, 219-235

Abstract: The author analyzed issues of playoff uncertainty (PU) by examining competitive balance and outcome uncertainty. Specifically, the author (a) developed an alternative measure of PU, (b) analyzed the relationship between PU and postseason structure in Major League Baseball (MLB), and (c) tested the PU of the outcome hypothesis using our PU measure. The results provide empirical evidence that postseason restructurings in 1969 and 1995 enhanced the PU significantly and had positive effects on fan demand for MLB. This implies that the league office can partly control PU by revising the league structure and thus increasing fan demand.

Keywords: competitive balance; playoff uncertainty; uncertainty of outcome hypothesis; fan demand; major league baseball (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Working Paper: The Impact of Postseason Restructuring on the Competitive Balance and Fan Demand in Major League Baseball (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jospec:v:10:y:2009:i:3:p:219-235

DOI: 10.1177/1527002508325785

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