Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball
The pandemic’s impact on Major League Baseball (MLB) was especially dire. In 2020, a single player testing positive was enough to cancel the entire game, with a few teams sidelined for weeks. This paper looks at all free-agent contracts signed during the 2017–2023 off-season signing periods. Since t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2024-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Empirical Economics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2810943024500100 |
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| author | Anthony Krautmann |
| author_facet | Anthony Krautmann |
| author_sort | Anthony Krautmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The pandemic’s impact on Major League Baseball (MLB) was especially dire. In 2020, a single player testing positive was enough to cancel the entire game, with a few teams sidelined for weeks. This paper looks at all free-agent contracts signed during the 2017–2023 off-season signing periods. Since this horizon spanned the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic seasons, we can examine the degree to which contract negotiations were affected by the pandemic. Using a sample of 643 free-agent signings, we found that contract compensation fell by as much as 20% during the pandemic. By 2022, however, player compensation had rebounded to pre-pandemic trends. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-55741dae20a14339b146020186b8cde5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2810-9430 2810-9449 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Empirical Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-55741dae20a14339b146020186b8cde52025-01-13T08:01:41ZengWorld Scientific PublishingInternational Journal of Empirical Economics2810-94302810-94492024-12-01030410.1142/S2810943024500100Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League BaseballAnthony Krautmann0Department of Economics, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60604, USAThe pandemic’s impact on Major League Baseball (MLB) was especially dire. In 2020, a single player testing positive was enough to cancel the entire game, with a few teams sidelined for weeks. This paper looks at all free-agent contracts signed during the 2017–2023 off-season signing periods. Since this horizon spanned the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic seasons, we can examine the degree to which contract negotiations were affected by the pandemic. Using a sample of 643 free-agent signings, we found that contract compensation fell by as much as 20% during the pandemic. By 2022, however, player compensation had rebounded to pre-pandemic trends.https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2810943024500100COVIDcompensation in MLB |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Krautmann Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball International Journal of Empirical Economics COVID compensation in MLB |
| title | Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball |
| title_full | Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball |
| title_fullStr | Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball |
| title_short | Cardboard Fans in the Stands: COVID and Compensation in Major League Baseball |
| title_sort | cardboard fans in the stands covid and compensation in major league baseball |
| topic | COVID compensation in MLB |
| url | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2810943024500100 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anthonykrautmann cardboardfansinthestandscovidandcompensationinmajorleaguebaseball |