Shadow and Spillover Effects of Competition in NBA Playoffs

Brian Hill

Journal of Sports Economics, 2018, vol. 19, issue 8, 1067-1092

Abstract: The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are structured as an elimination tournament where reseeding does not occur after each round. This structure leads to situations where future competitors (the shadow effect) and previous effort (the spillover effect) affect current performance. Using data from the 2009-2014 NBA playoffs, results here find that, when a future opponent is known, a series favorite is significantly more likely to win a game when the future opponent is weaker than expected. Estimates also provide evidence that greater previous effort by teams increases the probability the series favorite wins a game.

Keywords: elimination tournament; tournament structure; dynamic competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jospec:v:19:y:2018:i:8:p:1067-1092

DOI: 10.1177/1527002517704020

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