Fighting as a profit maximizing strategy in the National Hockey League: more evidence

Evolution of Community Deterrence: Evidence From the National Hockey League

“…In addition, Coates, Battré, and Deutscher () find weak evidence that highly penalized teams have higher revenues. Rockerbie () finds that fighting slightly reduced attendance through the mid‐1990s but had little relationship with attendance thereafter. Overall this stream of literature suggests that team owners, at least in the past, do not have financial incentives to reduce fights or physical play in hockey.…”

“…This made hockey unique among team sports as fighting became semi-legal and gave rise to what became known as the "enforcer." Rockerbie (2012) states: "[t]he new system encouraged each club to carry a few players that would act as "enforcers" on the ice, expected to deal with the other club's enforcers in a controlled battle of fisticuffs. This established a longstanding code of conduct in the NHL that still exists today.…”

“…During the sample period, the national origin of players changed from about 2% European in 1957 to 23.5% European in 2013. For detailed discussion of these institutional changes, see Rockerbie (2020 Greater enforcement of instigating might provide, over time the NHL has implemented many rules that aim to increase the costs and decrease the benefits of fighting. We identify four such major rule changes that we use as a heuristic in our empirical analysis.…”

Attendance in the Canadian Hockey League: The Impact of Winning, Fighting, Uncertainty of Outcome, and Weather on Junior Hockey Attendance

“…Fighting has seemingly always been a hot topic as it relates to its implications on the sport. Recent examples of the study of the role of fighting in hockey include Burdekin and Morton (2015) and Rockerbie (2016). One argument on the business-side of hockey, as it relates to fighting, is that fisticuffs 1 between the players is an aspect of the game that is enjoyed by fans.…”

An Analysis of Fights in the National Hockey League

“…But, Anderson [6] questions the wisdom of violence that leads to the removal or loss of star players which could reduce fan interest. Rockerbie [7] argues that fighting does not make economic sense. Using data over the [1997][1998] through 2009-2010 seasons, he finds a small negative effect on attendance.…”