Determinants of Attendance in the Early Days of Us Professional Baseball: Panel Estimation, 1892-1940

Abstract

If fan demand is driven by balanced competition and/or the spectacle of the game, then all teams can do well. However, if winning is what really counts, life becomes very difficult for the teams at the bottom of the standings each year. In contrast to the dominant role played by television and media rights today, the calculation was more clear-cut during US baseball’s early days when simply getting fans in the stands was what paid the bills. Although our panel data analysis shows that other factors like home runs hit and competitive balance were also significant over the 1892-1940 period, it appears that fans then, like today, mostly just wanted to see their favorite team win.

Keywords: Baseball attendance, prewar period, winning percentage, competitive balance

JEL Classification: Z21, N11, N12