arbiter
JournalsPricingAccount

Homegrown Heroes: The Impact of Locally Born Hockey Players on Attendance and Revenue in the National Hockey League

Édouard Perron & Min Hu

Journal of Sports Economics2025https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025251323832article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.41

What the paper says

This study examines the impact of locally born players on team attendance and revenue in the National Hockey League (NHL). Using data from 31 NHL teams from 2005 to 2018, the study employs a refined definition of locally born players and explores alternative definitions to ensure robustness. Each additional locally born player completing a full season is associated with an increase in home game attendance by approximately 12,000 spectators and $4.8 million in additional revenue. These effects are consistent across geographic regions, including traditional and non-traditional hockey markets. The findings underscore the value of investing and promoting local talent, particularly for teams with lower attendance levels. By fostering stronger community connections and regional loyalty, locally born players enhance team identity, boost fan engagement, and increase game demand. This study provides actionable insights for team management and marketing while advancing the understanding of fan demand dynamics in professional hockey.

2 citations

Open paper page →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025251323832

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{édouard2025,
  title        = {{Homegrown Heroes: The Impact of Locally Born Hockey Players on Attendance and Revenue in the National Hockey League}},
  author       = {Édouard Perron & Min Hu},
  journal      = {Journal of Sports Economics},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025251323832},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Homegrown Heroes: The Impact of Locally Born Hockey Players on Attendance and Revenue in the National Hockey League

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.41

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.25 × 0.4 = 0.10
M · momentum0.55 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.