Caitlin Clark's Surprising Economic Impact

Abstract

Increases in attendance for University of Iowa's women's basketball games caused by star player Caitlin Clark have led to claims of large economic benefits for Iowa City. This paper uses daily hotel occupancy data to analyze the visitor inflow arising from Clark's stardom. The findings show a surprising pattern: hotel occupancy did increase substantially during Clark's junior season but showed a much smaller increase during her senior season, even with considerably higher game attendance. Possible explanations for this pattern are discussed.

Keywords: Caitlin Clark, hotel occupancy, attendance, economic impact

JEL Classification: Z20, Z30