Abstract
We develop a quality adjusted professional sports franchise price index for North America based on the repeat sale method and a hybrid method originally applied to house prices. For the repeat sale method, the index reflects trends in the general price of franchises holding market, facility and team quality constant. The constant quality constant assumption in the repeat sale model may affect the price index, so we also use a hybrid model as an alternative. The repeat sale method price index exhibits considerable volatility but no upward trend over time, unlike previous quality adjusted price indexes based on hedonic models. The lack of an upward trend in the index indicates that franchise quality drives observed increases in prices over the past 40 years. The hybrid method exhibits price index shows a steady increase beginning in about 1990. This difference can be explained by changes in market population and facility characteristics.
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