An Analysis of Major League Baseball Attendance, 1969 – 1987

Abstract

A myriad of issues relating to professional sports require knowledge about the determinants of attendance. As sports expand as a cultural phenomenon, legal battles over franchises, player compensation and rights, and public subsidies for sports stadiums will intensify. While attendance at sporting events plays a crucial role in deciding sports controversies such as these, there is a paucity of theory explaining attendance at professional sporting events. Even though baseball is considered the national pastime, relatively little is known about the determinants of baseball attendance. This paper is an attempt to fill that gap through building on the baseball attendance research of Roger Noll. © 1990, SAGE PUBLICATIONS. All rights reserved.