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  • 2008
  • Working Paper
  • 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
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:30
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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.
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About The Author

Alvin E. Roth

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