Publication Date
6-2017
Abstract
This study examines potential determinants of American football game attendance for the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners program. Time series data are utilized to analyze UTEP attendance from 1967 to 2014. Parameter estimation is carried out using two-staged least squares regression analysis. Among the more notable outcomes, ticket sales are not strongly affected by the local business cycle and are not inversely correlated with unemployment. Demand for tickets is also found to be upward sloping. Forecasts are generated for the 2015 season and several quantitative metrics indicate that good out-of-sample simulation performance is attained. Replication of this study for football teams in more traditional “college towns” provides an intriguing opportunity for further research.
Comments
Technical Report TX17-2
Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr. and Wesley A. Miller, 2017, Collegiate Football Attendance in El Paso: 1967-2014, Technical Report TX17-2, University of Texas at El Paso Border Region Modeling Project.
A revised version of this study is forthcoming in Journal of Sports Economics & Management