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Uncertainty of Outcome and Attendance in College Football: Evidence from Four Conferences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Rodney Paul ,
Brad R. Humphreys  and
Andrew Weinbach
Rodney Paul
Affiliation:
Department of Sport Management, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
Brad R. Humphreys
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Andrew Weinbach
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics, Coastal Carolina University, South Carolina, USA
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Abstract

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The relationship between the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis (UOH), where fans prefer games that are expected to be closely contested, and attendance is investigated in four non-AQ football conferences. The teams in these smaller conferences play games against each other and against bigger, more prominent schools in the elite AQ conferences. Using the betting market point spread as a proxy for uncertainty of outcome, two key points concerning the UOH emerge: college football fans in these conferences prefer less uncertainty of outcome both when their team is a home favorite and when their team is a home underdog.

Keywords

L83D12Attendance demandNCAA footballuncertainty of outcome hypothesis
Type
Symposium
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 23 , Issue 2: Sport Economics , June 2012 , pp. 69 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

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