Payroll, Performance, and Attendance: A Dozen Years of Correlations in the NBA & MLB

Every professional sports organization relies on three pillars: money, fan engagement, and team performance. Within these pillars lie several subcategories, encompassing the entirety of an organization. Ideal sports organizations maintain a balance between these subcategories, not allowing one factor to heavily influence the others. Using data from 2008-2019, any relationships displayed between performance, attendance, and payroll by each team in the NBA and MLB will be quantified. A series of regression tests will uncover any correlations between three key statistics that generalize each pillar: payroll, attendance, and performance. A significant correlation between performance and attendance indicate a team has shown increased levels of attendance during seasons of improved performance. A significant correlation between payroll and performance implies that improvements in performance have typically occurred with a similar increase in payroll. Significant correlations between payroll and attendance show a team’s attendance typically declined when payroll decreased. The results of each test are compared on a league level and teams are categorized based on their combinations of significant correlations. Teams with no significant correlations between payroll, performance, and attendance have won the most championships over the past 12 years, and have the best organizational foundation moving forwards.