JOURNALOFSPORTSECONOMICS/August2002 Coates,Humphreys/POSTSEASONPLAY Research Note The Economic Impact of Postseason Play in Professional Sports DENNIS COATES BRAD R. HUMPHREYS University of Maryland Baltimore County An empirical examination of the determinants of real per capita income in cities with pro- fessional sports teams from 1969 to 1997 shows that postseason appearances are not associated with any change in the level of real per capita income in these cities. However, in the city that is home to the winning team from the Super Bowl, real per capita personal income is found to be higher by about $140, perhaps reflecting a link between winning the Super Bowl and the productivity of workers in cities. Overall, economic benefits flow- ing from future postseason appearances cannot justify public expenditures on profes- sional sports franchises or facilities. What Impact Will Playing in the Super Bowl Have on the Local Economy? WefieldedthisquestiondozensoftimesinJanuary2001,whenourlocalprofes- sionalfootballteammadeanappearanceinSuperBowlXXXIII.Ourstockanswer, based on a large body of research, recently surveyed by Siegfried and Zimbalist (2000),showingthatprofessionalsports,atbest,hasnoeconomicimpactonacity’s economyand,atworst,someresidentsofthesecitiesaremadepoorerbyprofes- sional sports, was “not very much at all.” To our knowledge, no comprehensive econometricstudyoftheeconomicimpactofpostseasonplayhasbeencarriedout. Porter(1999),inaninnovativestudy,examinedmonthlycommercialsales,hotel rates, and room occupancy data in three counties that hosted six Super Bowls between1979and1996.OneSuperBowlproducedasmallpositiveimpactoncom- 291 AUTHORS’NOTE: We thank David Idala for his efforts in gathering the playoff and championship information. JOURNAL OF SPORTS ECONOMICS, Vol. 3 No. 3, August 2002 291–299 © 2002 Sage Publications