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This work evaluates the cross-quality elasticity of related products in the context of Nielsen Local People Meter ratings of all regular season broadcasts from 2010 through 2013 from six National Football League teams in three shared markets. Using a fixed effects panel regression, we do not uncover evidence that viewers are swayed by the success of a rival market team in their aggregate viewership patterns, contrary to what has been found in Major League Baseball. In addition, when within-market rivals play one another, we find that viewership levels increase but in a way that indicates considerable overlap of viewership and possible substitution choices made by consumers. We expand upon the implications of this work for demand estimation in sports economics research as well as the importance of our findings to sport management-related policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the factors that influence sport broadcast viewership, exploring the relationship between spectator age, time remaining in the season, and team success. We identify the determinants of demand for two different age groups— youth and older adults—and analyze differences in the impact of team quality and playoff probability on viewership during midseason games and those during the stretch run of the season. Ordinary least squares models are used to estimate the effects and Wald tests to establish differences between groups. Our models show local team quality increased viewership by a greater margin for youth than older adults for midseason games as well as those during the stretch run. By contrast, only adult viewership increased in response to increased playoff probability, and only during the stretch run. The combination of results presents some ambiguity with respect to applying the conventional wisdom on the dynamics of age, time horizon, and positivity in the sport context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the within-game television ratings of regular season NFL games across three distinct viewership markets. Specifically, we operationalize our markets as follows-winning market denotes that of the team winning the game, losing market denotes the market of the losing squad, and all other markets where the game was broadcast were pooled in the neutral market category. Our modeling demonstrates that ratings changes attributable to scoring margin are essentially similar in neutral and losing markets, but different than winning markets. Implications related to the NFL's policy on televising uncompetitive games in neutral markets are further examined, concluding that the relationship between final scoring margin and audience interest is nuanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research estimating demand for sporting events has focused largely on professional baseball and European football (soccer), using attendance as a proxy of demand. This article estimates demand for National Football League games using television broadcast ratings, permitting the additional novelty of generating estimations in both the home and visiting clubs’ markets. The study uses a linear mixed model to demonstrate that many of the factors influencing attendance hold true with respect to television demand. Furthermore, many of the factors influencing demand for the aforementioned leagues hold true for the National Football League. Team quality, tenure in the market, and games contested in primetime all increased ratings, while income and sharing a market were negatively associated with ratings. Intradivisional games showed no statistically significant effect. The findings further suggest that the factors influencing ratings in home and road markets are essentially similar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives. Within the long line of inquiry on demand for sport, one area that has gone relatively unexamined is that of domestic migration. In this research, the relationship between population migration and team loyalty is explored. Methods. A linear mixed model uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Nielsen Company to analyze the effect domestic migration has on demand for National Football League games. Results. Ratings were higher in population centers with smaller per-capita population inflow (regardless of the origins of the inflow). The results further showed that increases in population flow from City A to City B were associated with increased demand for broadcasts in City B when Team B visited City A. Conclusions. The first finding suggests that sports viewership is not utilized as a vehicle for domestic transplants to integrate into their new community. The second finding suggests there is a nostalgia effect for an individual's previous hometown, though not necessarily for the team representing it in the league. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]