Practice or Profits

Nancy Jianakoplos () and Martin Shields

Journal of Sports Economics, 2012, vol. 13, issue 4, 451-465

Abstract: This article investigates whether the outcomes of National Football League (NFL) preseason games are predictors of regular season NFL performance. Using data from the 2002-2010 NFL seasons, the empirical analysis does not find that either a team’s preseason winning percentage or a win in the third preseason game is a significant indicator of the team’s regular season winning percentage. This result contrasts with previous findings that preseason game performance did provide an indicator of regular season performance for the 1970-1991 NFL seasons. Preliminary evidence is presented that suggests that the change in the importance of preseason performance in predicting regular season performance started around 1994.

Keywords: NFL; football; preseason (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jospec:v:13:y:2012:i:4:p:451-465

DOI: 10.1177/1527002512450267

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