Do Sports Teams Create Jobs? The Effects of U.S. Professional Sports Teams on Local Labor Markets

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effects of the entrance and exit of sports teams on their local labor markets. In this study, we analyze the potential effects on the addition and subtraction of a sports franchise on its Metropolitan Area’s total employment and wages. Through econometric modeling, we conclude that both total employment and average wages fall as a result of the addition of a professional sports team, and rise with the subtraction of a team. While it is generally assumed that professional sports teams can be used as an economic growth engine, we predict that the opposite is true in this thesis.