An Evaluation of the Impact of the NFL’s Super Bowl event on the Host Cities’ Crime Rates
Date
2014-12
Authors
Pena, Alejandra Iraide
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Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of the National Football League’s Super Bowl event on the crime rates of the host city. A review of the literature suggests that there is a positive relationship between sporting events and crime. The Routine Activities Theory operates under the idea that when there is the presence of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian, crime has the opportunity to occur. Large sporting events provide the opportunity for these three elements to take place.
The analysis for this research has been executed utilizing existing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations on the following 8 crimes: murder, force rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
The trends before the event, after the event and during the month of the event were measured for each of the 8 crimes of several host cities ranging from years 1990 and 2012. An interrupted time series design was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of this study suggest that the Super Bowl event does not have a significant impact on the crime rate of the host city.
Description
An Applied Research Project Submitted to the Department of Political Science, Texas State University, in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Public Administration, Fall 2014.
Keywords
National Football League, Super Bowl, sporting events, crime rate
Citation
Pena, A. I. (2014). An evaluation of the impact of the NFL’s Super Bowl event on the host cities’ crime rates. Masters of Public Administration, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.