DeMarcus Ware Broncos jersey Game Attendance and Outcome Uncertainty in the NHL

Holding a degree in psychology, I’m always on the lookout for new studies in hockey and the NHL. The title of my most recent find, “Game Attendance and Outcome Uncertainty in the NHL,” intrigued me. Economists Dennis Coates of UMBC and Brad Humphreys of the University of Alberta published the study in March 2012.The Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis was created in 1956, and states that the bigger difference on quality of teams playing (poor competitive balance), the less attendance a game sees. Research in the past has shown that attendance is higher at games featuring good visiting teams and high scoring teams. Attendance also decreases if the away team is more likely to take penalties (but is unaffected for home teams’ transgressions). The loss aversion theory also suggests that fans will stay away from a game that they expect their team to lose.Seeing all the previous research that pointed to this outcome, Coates and Humphreys analyzed data from 6,125 NHL games between 2005 and 2010, 37 percent of which were sellouts. They believed that the less uncertainty there was in a game’s outcome (the more likely the home team was to win), attendance would increase.The results found Marshawn Lynch Jersey that there were certain visiting teams that affected a home team’s attendance, for good and for bad. The Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers significantly increased a home team’s attendance, while the Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning significantly decreased attendance. Carolina and Phoenix also Autographed Colin Kaepernick Jersey had slight negative effects on home attendance.They believe their results also suggested that, as they expected, DeMarcus Ware Broncos jersey attendance increases as fans have higher expectations for a home win. They also suggest that fans show up more if they expect a higher-scoring game.However, there were numerous problems with their suggestions. First, numerous studies have shown conflicting results over the past few decades, Russell Wilson Jersey so it is extremely difficult to generalize any of these studies as an absolute rule. Autographed Aaron Rodgers Jersey The study also fails to draw a fine difference between high-scoring teams and poor defensive teams, both of which can occur simultaneously. Lastly, both the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis and Loss Aversion theories have been supported and weakened by scores of analyses, so it is difficult to claim either of them have validity. Requests for comment by the researchers were not returned.The bottom line is, attendance in professional sports, especially hockey, seem to fluctuate based on what is “in.” During the dead puck era, fans enjoyed the rare high-scoring games, though in the post-lockout era, they seem to flock towards teams with more speed. Unfortunately, no amount of data can prove this, nor any other theory. Fortunately, all that matters is that we get players back on the ice. Because what can be proven, is the relationship between the lack of a CBA and empty arenas.Alan Bass, PC9527609mms2016.com