Publications
Publications
- 2008
- HBS Working Paper Series
Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-season College Football Bowls
By: Guillaume R. Frechette, Alvin E. Roth and M. Utku Unver
Abstract
Many markets have "unraveled" and experienced inefficient, early, dispersed transactions, and subsequently developed institutions to delay transaction timing. However, it has previously proved difficult to measure and identify the resulting efficiency gains. Prior to 1992, college football teams were matched for post-season play up to several weeks before the end of the regular season. Since 1992, the market has reorganized to postpone this matching. We show that the matching of teams affects efficiency as measured by the resulting television viewership, and the reorganization promoted more efficient matching, chiefly due to the increased ability of later matching to produce "championship" games.
Keywords
Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Television Entertainment; Market Timing; Market Transactions; Marketplace Matching; Sports Industry
Citation
Frechette, Guillaume R., Alvin E. Roth, and M. Utku Unver. "Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-season College Football Bowls." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-010, July 2008.