Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In many professional sport leagues, the worst‐performing teams receive higher probability of earning top draft picks. This provides teams incentives to purposefully lose, or “tank,” if they are not likely to contend for the playoffs or championships. We evaluate the effectiveness of tanking to improve team outcomes by examining the most explicit tanking case in the NBA: the “Trust the Process” Philadelphia 76ers. Using synthetic control, we demonstrate that tanking caused the 76ers to be more successful in terms of winning and operating income. However, only operating income had a plausibly positive present value when calculating discounted present values.
Source: Contemporary Economic Policy
DOI: 10.1111/coep.12705
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,970
OpenAlex ID: W4411115392