When it comes to sports activities, men and women don’t play at the equal fields
The economics of sports activities stadiums generates excessive debate. Governors and mayors woo team proprietors with free land and tax breaks. Some nearby residents champion the arrival of new teams; others arrange to protest anticipated site visitors congestion and public safety issues. Economists debate whether or not the public benefits from sports activities franchises, along with jobs, local tax revenue from increased spending, and asset values, offset the associated fees to local governments.
As crew proprietors weigh the pros and cons of numerous places, one complex aspect is gender: Are the surest stadium places one of a kind for men’s and women’s sports activities? For example, the U.S. has two expert team sports activities with both men’s and women’s leagues: basketball and football. Comparing the places of the state’s respective expert basketball and soccer leagues, NBA, WNBA, MLS, and WPS groups within the same metropolitan regions shows that stadium locations certainly vary by gender, including economic and symbolic consequences.
Can you shoot from downtown if you play within the ‘burbs?
In metropolitan regions with guys’ and girls’ teams, men’s arenas are normally located near town centers, whilst ladies’ teams frequently play in extra distant suburbs. All NBA groups in the sample metro areas play within some miles of the town center (Figure 1). In only 4 of these metro regions, the WNBA crew stocks the NBA group’s stadium. But in most cases, the WNBA area is located further from the metropolitan center. Both MLS and WPS arenas are greater decentralized than NBA arenas, with women’s soccer groups having the best average distance to town centers.
