The Effects of Pricing Strategies on Team Revenues in the National Hockey League

This paper investigates the effects of price discrimination on a team's revenue in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the seasons from 2005/06 to 2014/15. The present research contributes to the literature in three ways. First, the empirical evidence shows that price discrimination increases team revenue. An additional ten-dollar increase in price discrimination brings a team an additional 0.76% in seasonal revenues. Second, raising prices increases overall team revenues. The evidence supports the hypothesis of inelastic pricing in the professional sports leagues. Third, an older team with a larger and historic stadium that performs better makes more money. All these findings are supported when the unobservable individual effects are controlled for.