The Varying Impacts of College and Professional Sports Teams on their Markets

Abstract

While professional and college sports teams both impact the markets in which they play from an economic and societal perspective, the way in which they drive this impact varies. Using secondary data from national social and economic studies, the research measures and compares important indicators such as GDP, per capita income, unemployment, and local satisfaction between professional and college sports markets. Results suggest professional sport teams are linked with higher absolute economic production but modest relative gains for their economies, while college teams have a more significant proportional effect in smaller markets. College sports also appear to foster higher community cohesion and pride, although professional teams hold symbolic national influence. These findings highlight that the type of sports presence changes how benefits are dispersed across a community and how the local governments can leverage the impact that sports create. The research concludes that policymakers should align sports investment strategies with city size and institutional arrangement to derive the greatest long-term economic and social benefit.