Záznamy o publikaci.
Autor | Michal Friesl, Liam J. A. Lenten, Jan Libich, Petr Stehlík |
Název | In search of goals: increasing ice hockey's attractiveness by a sides swap |
Vydáno | Journal of the Operational Research Society 68 (2017), no. 9, 1006--1018 |
ISSN | 0160-5682 |
Abstract | The popularity and business impact of major sports have
been growing globally over time. This paper focuses on ice hockey,
specifically the National Hockey League in North America. It reports a
striking irregularity in ice hockey's scoring dynamics relative to
comparable sports such as soccer and rugby, namely a scoring surge in
the middle section of the game. We explore an explanation for this
irregularity related to the convention on the spatial location of the
teams' benches (which are fixed throughout the game) and on-ice sides
(which are switched every period). Because a large number of the
players' substitutions occur while the play is in progress, this
convention determines the distance forwards and defenders need to travel
to make a substitution, and thus indirectly substitution strategies and
scoring. We consider two simple operational changes that could increase
the number of goals in the NHL by approximately 5 and 10%, respectively,
corresponding to roughly 350 and 700 additional goals each season. This
would partly offset the current downward scoring trend and thus enhance
the game's attractiveness. The estimated impact of the proposed reforms,
one of which is largely costless, is robust across several
specifications.using per-minute and per-second scoring data and
controlling for various factors, such as bookmakers' odds. |
Keywords | sport, ice hockey, discrete choice models, scoring dynamics |
Paper in journal | Paper in journal |
Paper in SN SharedIt | Paper in SN SharedIt |
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