Reassessing customer discrimination in local market National Basketball Association television viewership

Byungju Kang, Steven Salaga and Michael Mondello

Applied Economics, 2025, vol. 57, issue 27, 3726-3739

Abstract: This study revisits the question of whether evidence of race-based customer discrimination exists in local market television viewership. We assess how consumers in 27 of the largest U.S. media markets respond to the racial composition of playing talent using modern local market television viewership data from the National Basketball Association. An advantage of using viewership data from this context is the ability to control for the perceived and actual quality of the product, allowing for the ability to isolate the effects of player race. We first uncover statistically significant increases in viewership when Non-White players occupy more roster spots and receive more playing time relative to White players. Individual player race models produce similar results and indicate consumers respond favourably to Black and Hispanic players. The results oppose previous research in the same setting and suggest viewership preferences related to race have changed substantially over time.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2024.2337818

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