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The Economics of Baseball Fandom

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

From Daniel Hamermesh at Freakonomics:

A recent article notes that attendance in Major League Baseball parks is actually above last year, despite, so the story says, the economic downturn (recession?).

But despite is incorrect ? it should be ?because? of the economic downturn. The story notes that cheap seats at the Dodgers Stadium go for $8 to $13. Not bad for three plus hours of entertainment; but in good times who can afford that time?

In bad times, when the opportunity cost of time is reduced, the total price of an afternoon at the ballpark is lower for many people than it is when jobs are more plentiful. I see this in my own planning. Though I like baseball, I haven?t been to an M.L.B. game in over five years ? I?ve been working too hard; but I do plan to attend more once I partially retire and the opportunity cost of my time drops.

Baseball watching is a time-intensive activity; and when time becomes ?cheaper? for many people, as it does in a recession, it?s not surprising that the demand for watching M.L.B. games rises. The price of the complementary good to the ticket price ? the price of one?s time ? has fallen.

This might explain why one of the historic heydays for baseball was the 1930s, the worst economic period in the country's history.

(H/T: My colleague Tom Baker at FIU)

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).