Competitive Balance in the Eyes of the Sports Fan

Abstract

There are many measures of competitive balance in the sports economics literature, each with their strengths and weaknesses. This study uses point spreads to measure competitive balance which has the advantages that they are prospective rather than retrospective and that they are determined by the sports fans and not just the outcome of a game. A total of six measures of competitive balance are developed from point spreads. These measures show a general trend toward improvement in competitive balance in the National Basketball Association over the past 20 years with no clear trend emerging for competitive balance in the National Football League.