Comparing revenue data in sports
I am currently taking a Sports Economics course at the University of Michigan as part of my required classes for a Sport Management major. Anyways, I was doing my reading from the book Sports Economics by Rodney Fort (my professor) and came across a few interesting items of note.
At the bottom end of the revenue distribution, the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars have over 2.5 times the revenue of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. The average NFL revenue is just over 1.5 times larger than the average NHL revenue. At the top end of the distribution, MLB’s New York Yankees have nearly twice the revenue of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. …
On average, MLB fans spend over 75 percent more than NHL fans. NFL fans spend 60 percent more than NHL fans.
I know that this data is at least four years old, but I would think that the disparities between the leagues have actually increased. The NHL may say it’s doing well financially speaking and that very well may be the case, but the NHL looks like a minor league in comparison to the MLB and especially the NFL.
Data from Forbes in 2003
Smallest Revenue Teams
$48 million (NHL/Edmonton)
$70 million (NBA/Seattle, Golden State, Milwaukee)
$81 million (MLB/Montreal)
$126 million (NFL/Arizona)
Largest Revenue Teams
$238 million (MLB/New York Yankees)
$227 million (NFL/Washington Redskins)
$149 million (NBA/LA Lakers)
$113 million (NHL/New York Rangers)
League Revenue Averages
$70 million - NHL
$94 million - NBA
$129 million - MLB
$155 million - NFL
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