How sensitive are sports fans to unemployment?

We analyse the attendance of professional football matches in England finding that it is related to unemployment over a very long period of time. More unemployment leads to lower attendances. Distinguishing between leagues, we find that the relationship is larger for lower leagues, i.e. attendances of lower quality football events are more sensitive to fluctuations in unemployment.

Automated summary

We analyze the correlation between attendance at professional football matches in England and unemployment over a long period of time. We find that higher unemployment rates lead to lower attendance. Interestingly, this relationship is more significant in lower leagues, suggesting that attendance at lower quality football events is more sensitive to fluctuations in unemployment.