Stadium Alcohol Availability and Baseball Attendance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Although conventional wisdom holds that alcohol availability increases baseball attendance, little evidence exists on the complementarity between attendance and alcohol availability. To address this gap in the literature, we examine the effect of Rome, Georgia’s November 2004 legalization of Sunday alcohol sales on a minor league baseball team’s attendance. OLS and Tobit estimates of an attendance model find no statistically significant effect of alcohol availability on attendance. In addition to analyzing the relationship between attendance and alcohol availability, we also perform back-of-the-envelope calculations of the additional concession revenue generated by Sunday beer sales.