TY - JOUR
T1 - College Football Television and Attendance
T2 - The Problem With Selection Bias
AU - Losak, Jeremy M.
AU - Marteka, Samuel
AU - Mangos, Mackenzie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Fitness Information Technology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - Television coverage’s impact on college football attendance is a topic of debate. Between 2005 and 2019, annual growth in athletic department revenues for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools from media rights, postseason football, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference distributions far exceeded revenue growth in ticket sales revenue. This study re-evaluates the substitution or complementarity of television coverage and stadium attendance in college football with updated data while controlling for selection bias through endogenous treatment regression. Although initial results reveal a positive correlation between television coverage and attendance, national coverage and attendance appear to be substitutes after controlling for selection bias. That said, from an attendance maximizing perspective, national coverage is preferable to lower-tiered coverage if a game is to be televised.
AB - Television coverage’s impact on college football attendance is a topic of debate. Between 2005 and 2019, annual growth in athletic department revenues for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools from media rights, postseason football, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference distributions far exceeded revenue growth in ticket sales revenue. This study re-evaluates the substitution or complementarity of television coverage and stadium attendance in college football with updated data while controlling for selection bias through endogenous treatment regression. Although initial results reveal a positive correlation between television coverage and attendance, national coverage and attendance appear to be substitutes after controlling for selection bias. That said, from an attendance maximizing perspective, national coverage is preferable to lower-tiered coverage if a game is to be televised.
KW - college football
KW - endogenous treatment regression
KW - stadium attendance demand
KW - television coverage
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196430992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85196430992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.32731/IJSF/184.112023.01
DO - 10.32731/IJSF/184.112023.01
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196430992
SN - 1558-6235
VL - 18
SP - 179
EP - 194
JO - International Journal of Sport Finance
JF - International Journal of Sport Finance
IS - 4
ER -