Factors Affecting Attendance of Major League Baseball: Revisited

摘要

Many studies have been conducted analyzing factors affecting the demand for Major League Baseball (MLB) games. This paper revisits the factors affecting the long-run demand for attendance, employing an unbalanced panel technique for all home games played over the period from 1979 to 2004 seasons for the 12 non-expansion, non-adjustment teams from MLB. Combining both teams and every home game played during 1979—2004 seasons, dimensions provide better understanding of long-run demand for attendance. The study finds that time factors, fan interest, city characteristics, team's performance, and fan's attendance behavior have strong influences on the game attendance.