Previous research has found that sports games increase certain crimes including theft and vandalism, but the relationship between sports and other offenses such as motor vehicle theft, robbery, and assaults is mixed. Using regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game data and city-level, incident-level crime data from four large U.S. cities, this paper estimates if professional ice hockey games played at home is associated with increases in property crimes, alcohol-related crimes, and assaults during and right after games the over course of four NHL seasons. Results show that NHL games lead to small but significant increases in property crimes and assaults. There is no significant effect for alcohol-related crimes. Implications and suggestions for future work are discussed.
BaumannR.CiavarraT.EnglehardtB.MathesonV. A. (2012). Sports franchises, events, and city livability: An examination of spectator sports and crime rates. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 23(2), 83–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/103530461202300207
2.
BreetzkeG.CohnE. G. (2013). Sporting events and the spatial patterning of crime in South Africa: Local interpretations and international implications. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 55(3), 387–420.
3.
CampanielloN. (2013). Mega events in sports and crime: Evidence from the 1990 Football World Cup. Journal of Sports Economics, 14(2), 148–170.
4.
CarpenterC.DobkinC. (2010). The drinking age, alcohol consumption, and crime. Unpublished Manuscript, University of California Santa Cruz.
ChalfinA.HansenB.LernerJ.ParkerL. (2021). Reducing crime through environmental design: Evidence from a randomized experiment of street lighting in New York City. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-020-09490-6
7.
ChalfinA.McCraryJ. (2017). Criminal deterrence: A review of the literature. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(1), 5–48.
8.
CohenL. E.FelsonM. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588–608.
9.
CopusR.LaqueurH. (2019). Entertainment as crime prevention: Evidence from Chicago sports games. Journal of Sports Economics, 20(3), 344–370.
10.
DeehanA. (1999). Alcohol and crime. Crime Reduction Research Series Paper 3.
EastmanS. T.LandA. M. (1997). The best of both worlds: Sports fans find good seats at the bar. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 21(2), 156–178.
13.
FarrellG.TseloniA.MailleyJ.TilleyN. (2011). The crime drop and the security hypothesis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48(2), 147–175.
14.
FarrellG.TseloniA.TilleyN. (2011). The effectiveness of vehicle security devices and their role in the crime drop. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 11(1), 21–35.
GlassmanT.WerchC. E.JobliE.BianH. (2007). Alcohol-related fan behavior on college football game day. Journal of American College Health, 56(3), 255–260.
GreenfieldT. K.WeisnerC. (1995). Drinking problems and self-reported criminal behavior, arrests and convictions: 1990 US alcohol and 1989 county surveys. Addiction, 90(3), 361–373.
19.
KalistD. E.LeeD. Y. (2016). The National football league: Does crime increase on game day?Journal of Sports Economics, 17(8), 863–882.
20.
KaplanJ.ChalfinA. (2019). More cops, fewer prisoners?Criminology & Public Policy, 18(1), 171–200.
KurlandJ.PizaE. (2018). The devil you don’t know: A spatial analysis of crime at Newark’s Prudential Center on hockey game days. Journal of Sport Safety and Security, 3(1), 1.
MaresD.BlackburnE. (2019). Major league baseball and crime: Opportunity, spatial patterns, and team rivalry at St. Louis Cardinal games. Journal of Sports Economics, 20(7), 875–902.
25.
MarieO. (2016). Police and thieves in the stadium: Measuring the (multiple) effects of football matches on crime. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society), 171(1), 273–292.
26.
MillerP.M c DonaldL.M c KenzieS.O’BrienK.StaigerP. (2013). When the C ats are away: The impact of sporting events on assault-and alcohol-related emergency department attendances. Drug and Alcohol Review, 32(1), 31–38.
NelsonT. F.WechslerH. (2003). School spirits: Alcohol and collegiate sports fans. Addictive Behaviors, 28(1), 1–11.
29.
OstrowskyM. K. (2018). Sports fans, alcohol use, and violent behavior: A sociological review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19(4), 406–419.
30.
OwensE. G. (2013). COPS and cuffs. In CookP.MachinS.MarieO.MastrobuoniG. (Eds.), Lessons from the economics of crime: what reduces offending? (pp. 17–44). MIT Press.
31.
ParrottD. J.EckhardtC. I. (2018). Effects of alcohol on human aggression. Current Opinion in Psychology, 19, 1–5.
32.
PiqueroA. R.PiqueroN. L.RiddellJ. R. (2021). Do (sex) crimes increase during the United States Formula 1 grand prix?Journal of Experimental Criminology, 17(1), 87–108.
33.
PyunH.HallJ. C. (2019). Does the presence of professional football cause crime in a city? Evidence from Pontiac, Michigan. Applied Economics, 51(36), 3958–3970.
34.
ReesD. I.SchnepelK. T. (2009). College football games and crime. Journal of Sports Economics, 10(1), 68–87.
35.
RichardsonA.BuddT. (2003). Alcohol, crime and disorder: A study of young adults. Home Office. Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
36.
RosentraubM. S.SwindellD.TsvetkovaS. (2008). Public dollars, sports facilities, and intangible benefits: The value of a team to a region’s residents and tourists. Journal of Tourism, 9(2), 133–159.
37.
SayetteM. A. (2017). The effects of alcohol on emotion in social drinkers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 88, 76–89.
38.
SwindellD.RosentraubM. S. (1998). Who benefits from the presence of professional sports teams? The implications for public funding of stadiums and arenas. Public Administration Review, 58(1), 1–11.
