Consumption Benefits of National Hockey League Game Trips Estimated From Revealed and Stated Preference Demand Data

Abstract

This paper examines the demand for hockey game trips among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residents of Alberta, Canada. Using data on both revealed and stated preference game‐trip behavior from a telephone survey conducted throughout Alberta, we estimate the effect of ticket prices, team quality, arena amenities, and capacity on the latent demand for National Hockey League hockey games. We find that lower ticket prices, higher team quality, and additional capacity encourage attendance. In the status quo scenario, consumer surplus per game is $50 for those who had attended hockey games and about 50% less for those who had not attended games. Exploiting the stated preference data, we develop a number of other consumer surplus estimates. We also include travel costs in the estimation of the demand function and estimate the full value of the game trip considering both ticket prices and travel costs. Sold‐out arenas in Calgary and Edmonton generate annual consumption benefits of $40 and $35 million when only ticket prices are used to calculate consumer surplus (i.e., excluding travel costs). Considering the full‐price consumer surplus for the Calgary Flames of $103 per game trip, the annual consumption benefits may be as high as $82 million. (JEL R22, L83, D61)

Analysis of optimal timing of tourism demand recovery policies from natural disaster using the contingent behavior method

“…This method enables researchers to analyze individual behaviors under (researcher -designed) hypothetical situations, and it is used in cases where observable data are limited. For instance, Whitehead, Johnson, Mason, and Walker (2008) used observable data by asking respondents the number of times they visited hockey games depending on game intervals and seat prices. Phaneuf and Earnhart (2011) measured recreational benefits of lakes using trip data under hypothetical trip time and prices.…”

The Economic Impact and Civic Pride Effects of Sports Teams and Mega‐Events: Do The Public and the Professionals Agree?

“…Fenn and Crooker (2009), analysing the public goods generated by the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, find that the benefits to the community warrant the stadium subsidy given to retain the team in Minnesota. Whitehead et al (2013), using a combination of the contingent valuation and travel cost techniques, find that the residents of Alberta, Canada, derive both significant use and non-use benefits from the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League: up to C$82m dollars a year. The authors do suggest, however, that some of the benefits can be captured in ticket pricing.…”

The effect of sporting success and management failure on attendance demand in the Bundesliga: a revealed and stated preference travel cost approach

“…Similar to the contingent valuation method (CVM) which has been widely applied in the context of professional team sports (e.g., Johnson et al, 2001;Wicker et al, 2015), the contingent behaviour method (CBM) can be used to collect stated preference data. While the CVM is used to estimate willingness-to-pay for non-market goods contingent on a hypothetical scenario (Carson, 2000), the CBM assesses behavioural changes contingent on a hypothetical scenario (Whitehead et al, 2013). It has been applied in both tourism economics (Alberini et al, 2007;Hesseln et al, 2003) and sports economics (Whitehead et al, 2013).…”

“…While the CVM is used to estimate willingness-to-pay for non-market goods contingent on a hypothetical scenario (Carson, 2000), the CBM assesses behavioural changes contingent on a hypothetical scenario (Whitehead et al, 2013). It has been applied in both tourism economics (Alberini et al, 2007;Hesseln et al, 2003) and sports economics (Whitehead et al, 2013).…”

“…This paper examines attendance demand in the Bundesliga using a revealed and stated preference travel cost approach. While Whitehead et al (2013) used this approach to estimate the effect of new arenas and team performance on consumer surplus in the National Hockey League (NHL), we ask how sporting success and management failure affect the demand for Bundesliga home games. During the 2013/2014 season, 7,105 fans and people living near 28 teams from the top three Bundesliga divisions answered online surveys.…”