The Novelty and Nostalgia Effects of a New Major League Baseball Stadium as Measured by Its Impact on Attendance, the Corresponding Costs of Attending, and Ticket Revenue

Abstract

Using secondary data, the novelty effect of the opening of 15 new Major League Baseball stadiums was determined. Using a seven-year period looking both before and after each stadium’s inaugural season, a meaningful novelty effect was documented. There were significant increases in attendance and the average ticket price for each of the 15 teams under scrutiny. As a consequence, there was a significant increase in the revenue generated through ticket sales. While the anticipated spike was in evidence for the year a new stadium opened, meaningful increases were also documented for the years subsequent to the opening of the new stadium and the final year of the old stadium. Thus it might reasonably be argued that the opening of a new stadium offers two opportunities on which the team might capitalize – the novelty effect of the new stadium and the nostalgia effect of the old stadium.