Can You Put a Price on Victory? Estimating the Impact of the Super Bowl on Alcohol-Induced Mortality

The outcome of the Super Bowl operates as an emotional shock that generates plausibly exogenous variation in alcohol consumption by team loyalty. This paper investigates whether winning the Super Bowl enacts social costs by studying alcohol-induced mortality of residents of the victorious team’s fan base in the month of the Super Bowl. Using novel variation in team fandom from SeatGeek, restricted-use death records, and an event study design, my differences-in-differences estimates show that winning the Super Bowl increases the weekend alcohol poisoning mortality rate by 44% and weekday multiple-cause alcohol mortality rate by 23%, per 100,000 residents. Alcohol poisonings peak on Mondays and multiple-cause alcohol-induced mortality peaks on Wednesdays and Thursdays, consistent with binge drinking on Super Bowl Sunday evening and spillover effects from alcohol coinciding with the date of the victorious team’s parade. Weekend alcohol poisoning mortality rates increase by 50% in urban areas following victory but increase by nearly 100% in areas with access to UberX, suggesting that ridesharing facilitates binge drinking away from home. My results imply that over 60 alcohol poisonings and 150 fatalities involving alcohol since 2000 are attributable to winning the Super Bowl. This research highlights the importance of encouraging responsible alcohol consumption by fans and demonstrates the utility of using sporting events as natural shocks that affect economic decision making