When considering this topic, one might also decide to study not just the impact of a professional sports team on the economic landscape, but also the impact of the "Market size".
The economic benifit of a sports franchise has been studied and the results tend to show a minimal impact. What is not addressed is the impact of a sports franchise and the size of the market.
Case in point, Green Bay, undoubtedly one of the smallest markets in professional sports. My thesis would be that such a team brings in a large amount of economic income because they have a captive audience. There is little to do in the way of "Major Events" in GB, so it is focused on the team.
Suporting reasons:
-You can't casually rent a hotel within a 20 mile radius 8 times a year.
-You MUST rent the room for the WHOLE WEEKEND
-Surge in restaurant sales
-Free advertising (nobody would know GB exists without that football franchise.
In Contrast:
-larger urban areas with teams have a larger diversity of residents, meaning many don't care
-larger urban areas have more choice in "major events"
-the larger the local economy, the less the team matters
-larger urban areas naturally get more advertising exposure, so the name recognition brought by the team means less
Just my comments, let us know what you find.
