In the NBA, predominantly Black players play in front of predominantly non-Black fans. Using the “NBA Bubble”, a natural experiment induced by COVID-19, we show that the performance of Black players improved significantly with the absence of fans vis-à-vis White players. This is consistent with Black athletes being negatively affected by racial pressure from mostly non-Black audiences. We control for player, team, and game fixed effects, and dispel alternative mechanisms. Beyond hurting individual players, racial pressure causes significant economic damage to NBA teams by lowering the performance of top athletes and the quality of the game.

Inside the NBA Bubble: how Black players performed better without fans / Caselli, Mauro; Falco, Paolo; Somekh, Babak. - In: JOURNAL OF POPULATION ECONOMICS. - ISSN 1432-1475. - 2024, 37:2(2024), p. 39. [10.1007/s00148-024-01021-y]

Inside the NBA Bubble: how Black players performed better without fans

Caselli, Mauro
Primo
;
2024-01-01

Abstract

In the NBA, predominantly Black players play in front of predominantly non-Black fans. Using the “NBA Bubble”, a natural experiment induced by COVID-19, we show that the performance of Black players improved significantly with the absence of fans vis-à-vis White players. This is consistent with Black athletes being negatively affected by racial pressure from mostly non-Black audiences. We control for player, team, and game fixed effects, and dispel alternative mechanisms. Beyond hurting individual players, racial pressure causes significant economic damage to NBA teams by lowering the performance of top athletes and the quality of the game.
2024
2
Caselli, Mauro; Falco, Paolo; Somekh, Babak
Inside the NBA Bubble: how Black players performed better without fans / Caselli, Mauro; Falco, Paolo; Somekh, Babak. - In: JOURNAL OF POPULATION ECONOMICS. - ISSN 1432-1475. - 2024, 37:2(2024), p. 39. [10.1007/s00148-024-01021-y]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/405769
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