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Sports economics, Reverse-order drafts, Behavior economics, J44, L83,

This study offers the opportunity to examine the welfare contribution of the Minnesota Vikings to Minnesota households in the context of a credible threat of team relocation. We find the credibility of the threat of relocation is essential to providing unbiased estimates of welfare. This study utilizes contingent valuation methodology (CVM) and a random utility model (RUM) to analyze Minnesotans' decision-making mechanisms for supporting a new stadium initiative. While previous studies have attempted to measure the welfare associated with a sports franchise, we develop and discuss bias that may be imparted to estimates when the researcher fails to calculate a ''choke price.'' Further, we develop an unbiased approach to identify welfare when respondents perceive a risk of losing the franchise. The range of welfare contribution by the Vikings to households in Minnesota is $445.3 million to $1,571.3 million according to a 95% confidence interval based on our study.

This article examines the competitive balance of the National Football League (NFL) using Gini coefficients and the deviations of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. The authors present upper bounds for both measures that are constructed using actual playing schedules. They model competitive balance as a function of player talent, the incidence of strikes, the expansion of the NFL, change in the number of playoff teams, schedule length, team relocation, the number of new stadiums, and the introduction of free agency and the salary cap in the NFL using data from the 1970 to 2002 seasons. The authors find that free agency and salary cap restrictions tend to promote competitive balance, whereas a concentration of player talent reduces competitiveness among teams. Player strikes and the construction of new stadiums also affect competitive balance.

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