This repository contains the code dedicated to the sports economics project "Is Covid-19 to Blame? Explaining Decreased Attendance in the 2021-22 NBA and NHL Seasons" by Giancarlo Arcese (me) and advised by professor Benjamin Anderson of Colgate University. Scripts for collecting raw data, cleaning the raw data, and a shiny app are all included. For a visualzation of the data, see the shiny app here.
This project seeks to determine whether local Covid-19 activity, measured by the weekly total of new cases or deaths at a city, impacted attendance to professional sports matches (NBA & NHL). We specifically study the NBA and NHL since both sports are played in a closed stadium where risk of contracting Covid-19 is greatest. A linear regression model will be the paper's primary econometric technique.
I completed a thesis on this topic already during my Senior year at Colgate University. A (slightly updated) copy of the thesis can be found in the repository here. This project was also presnented at the New York State Economics Association 2022 conference in the undergraduate research section, winning first prize. A copy of the presentation slides can be found here.
With any questions, please reach out to [email protected].