'Are The Stanley Cup Finals A Boon To Boston's Economy?'

WGBH

In a story on WGBH news, Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, commented on the economic impact of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs on the city of Boston, as the Bruins are currently in the throes of vying for the title against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Specifically, Matheson contended that the economy is not quite as bolstered by the big sporting event as popular belief would have it. With this in mind, he stated, “There are positive, but quite small impacts from post season appearances.” Then, he noted that fans who attend Bruins games push out Boston residents who would be otherwise spending money in order to stimulate the local economy. “You do get a bunch of people [at the game],” Matheson said. “[B]ut you also might crowd out regular activity that occurs.”

Of course, to an extent, Bruins playoffs games are beneficial to the city, as they amass revenue for local bars, diners, restaurants, hotels, parking garages and transportation companies. However, Matheson warned against being financially overeager, saying, “There is every reason to believe that the Bruins deep run into the Stanley cup is [going to] make Bostonians happy, but we don’t have a lot of evidence that it’s [going to] make Bostonians rich.”

This ‘Holy Cross in the News’ item by David Cotrone ’13.