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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

To be fair, after accounting for inflation, overall prices have entirely flat for the past 113 years.

Reposted by Victor Matheson

Scott Lemieux @lemieuxlgm.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

[Guy getting paid $30 million a year to provide replacement-level sports yelling content] "It is a crisis when young men are getting paid for labor that generates the revenue that pays my salary"

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The NWSL's Boston Legacy will have to wait another full year to get into their debacle of a stadium. BTW, their perfect (delayed) stadium has a track, which literally every soccer team in the world for the past half century has decided is one thing that ruins the soccer experience for fans. smh

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Probably the biggest reason not to rename a Great Lake is that it really messes up the rhyming scheme of "And farther below Lake Ontario..." in the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Quite honestly, that alone easily rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST...

youtube.com

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot (HD w/ Lyrics)

YouTube video by Zeezy

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

PSA for FIFA/WC reporters. No complete data yet, but FIFA said its 4-year revenue likely to hit $15B. This implies $11B in revenue from the WC, not $15B. (There is another roughly $2B from club WC and $1B from WWC.) Lots of good publications seem to be reporting this incorrectly.

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.com · 06/08/2026

Last evening, I participated in a Portland forum on The Economics of Publicly Financed Stadiums, where @victor-matheson.bsky.social and I discussed the economic evidence regarding Moda Center renovation issue. Video is now posted.

youtu.be

The Economics of Publicly Funded Stadiums

YouTube video by Portland City Councilor Mitch Green

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.com · 04/08/2026

Tomorrow evening.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

As I tell Reuters here, what a complete collapse by Infantino in record time. Goes from riding high after completing the most financially successful mega-event in world history to fighting for his political life in less than 1 month. Icarus incarnate. www.reuters.com/sports/socce...

reuters.com

Infantino faces crisis as UEFA, CONCACAF declare lost confidence over scrapped World Cup deal

Soccer officials are demanding more oversight of the sport's commercial future.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This may be the most disturbing thing I have read on Bluesky all week.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Not that I think anyone should necessarily want to voluntarily hear me talking sports econ for an hour, but just in case you are that sort of crazy, here you go. www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyr...

youtube.com

Victor Matheson Explains NHL Salary Caps, No State Income Tax & Arena Financing

YouTube video by Backchecking the Bolts

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

If someone watched their first soccer game today, I bet a lot of them never tune again, and it’s not because of Shakira or BTS. So, anyone saying that the halftime show destroyed soccer should just pipe down and direct their anger at the true clowns of today’s game. And for once it’s not Infantino!

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Let’s be very clear that Argentina’s performance in this game has done a much bigger disservice to world soccer than any silly halftime performance.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Look, there are a lot of things to hate about Americans, but the overwrought reaction to the halftime show clearly demonstrates that apparently every soccer fan outside of the US is a pretentious asshole. Just enjoy BTS, Shakira, Ted Lasso, and Madonna already.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Me and Brian Mills? Well I am glad they got at least 1 real expert!

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Game 3 of the NBA finals averaged 23.8 million viewers. This was the most watched NBA game since 1998. US-Paraguay in the World Cup averaged 24.7 million viewers. And some people are still saying the US isn't a soccer country? Maybe true in 1994, certainly not anymore.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Currently on flight home from sports econ conference. People in seats behind me are discussing Chicago Bears stadium deal. It is taking every bit of self control to not turn around and go into 45 minute diatribe on public stadium subsidies. We land in 25 mins. I think I can make it…

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Researchers found a short-term spike in hotel revenues immediately after Leo Messi’s arrival in MLS, but no evidence of any long-term structural growth in hotel stays, which should inform decisions on justifying dedicating hotel taxes to stadium projects.

fieldofschemes.com

Liveblog: What economists are telling us this year about sports stadiums

I unfortunately had to cancel my trip to this year's sports economics conference at University of Maryland-Baltimore County starting today, but friend of Field of Schemes John Mozena of the Center for...

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

Brant Reeves @bireeves95.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Now that Would be So Logical…. SO IF WE DON'T LET ATHLETES BET ON GAMES THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE.... WHY DO WE ALLOW CONGRESS TO INVEST IN COMPANIES THEY REGULATE?🤷🏻

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Everything you wanted to know about the economics of the World Cup on the "Profoundly Pointless" podcast featuring me and host John Shull. www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlt...

youtube.com

Inside the Insane Business of the World Cup | Meet World Cup Economist Dr. Victor Matheson

YouTube video by Profoundly Pointless

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Anyone, such as Trump's CFTC chair Mike Selig, who claims that sports prediction markets aren’t gambling is a liar. Yet another example of the Trump administration prioritizing billionaire corporations over the public. www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/e...

cnn.com

‘It’s a loophole’: Shut out of most gambling, 18-to-21 crowd rushes to prediction sites | CNN Business

When Andrew needed money for a flight with friends to Greece this summer, the 18-year-old high school senior turned to prediction markets.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Shouldn't "bipartisan" really mean a proposal supported by both labor and management not a proposal supported by both Democrats and Republicans meddling a private industry without a compelling public interest to do so? www.espn.com/espn/story/_...

espn.com

Bipartisan college sports bill proposes salary cap, transfer limit

Two Senators will soon introduce a bipartisan college sports bill which aims to regulate payments to players, limit transfers and restrict coach movement during the season.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Apparently the only parties of importance are the Democrats, Republicans, and the NCAA. Who is looking out for the players in this massive restriction on who can play, where they can play, and how much they can earn? Appalling disregard for labor by all parties. www.espn.com/espn/story/_...

espn.com

Bipartisan college sports bill proposes salary cap, transfer limit

Two Senators will soon introduce a bipartisan college sports bill which aims to regulate payments to players, limit transfers and restrict coach movement during the season.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

One nice thing about my research is that if the facts and I can’t convince politicians to make the right choice, all that happens is we get a nice stadium at too high a taxpayer price. But Dachau… yikes!

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I've been doing a ton on interviews on the upcoming World Cup, which looks like it will make a lot for FIFA but maybe not so much for everyone else. Here's one interview for Seattle's NPR station. www.kuow.org/stories/is-i...

kuow.org

Is it worth it to host the World Cup? It depends.

Seattle has been buzzing with excitement over this year's World Cup. But does all of the preparation, financial investment and fanfare pay off for host cities in the end?

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

To be fair, if there is one institution that really promotes individualism and independent thinking, it is the military.

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.com · 22/04/2026

Your reminder as to why KC voters aren't being allowed to vote on the Royals stadium plan. Elected representatives already know their constituents oppose it. But local leaders want it (and the perks that go with it), and they want taxpayers to pay for their luxury play palace.

theconversation.com

Why the Chiefs and Royals couldn’t convince Kansas City voters to foot the bill for their stadiums

It turns out that handing over taxpayer dollars to billionaire owners tends to be far less popular among regular citizens than among well-connected government officials.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Today Holy Cross is hosting the author Margaret Atwood for a talk. I’m not really a big fan of non-fiction, so I am skipping the lecture.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Anyone who says you can’t put a dollar value of intangibles has either not tried or doesn’t want to know what the real answer is is.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Jobs report just came in at +178K, the best report of Trump's 2nd term. Biden averaged +329K Clinton averaged +242K Obama averaged +188K in his final 7 years (following the end of the Great Recession that was in full swing when he took office) Fox Business cheering a below average Dem report.

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

Julian Bene @julianbene.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Not just any economist! @victor-matheson.bsky.social

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Yesterday was the end of the quarter for 401k plans. How much of yesterday’s Iran “peace” announcement was done just to try to mitigate a bit of the stock market damage people will see on their quarterly statements in the next couple of days before the fall starts again?

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Let's be very clear - there is not an ounce of difference between sports betting done through a sportsbook like DraftKings or FanDuel and sports betting done through a prediction market like Kalshi. It is pure fiction to believe otherwise. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

marketplace.org

Are prediction markets gambling? Utah and the CFTC disagree

Prediction markets are regulated by the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission, even in states that don’t allow gambling. That could spark a legal battle to define an industry with little over...

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

In recognition of Paul Ehrlich's death, my 2010 paper on his famous bet with Julian Simon. While Simon won the bet finding real resource prices fell suggesting scarcity isn't a problem, over most time periods in last 100 years, Ehrlich would have won the bet. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Luck or skill? An examination of the Ehrlich–Simon bet

In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon placed a famous bet on whether the prices of a bundle of natural resources would rise or fall over the ensuing …

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Well to be fair Trump look some tentative first steps yesterday towards screwing over college athletes, so it’s not all just bad economy and war.

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Reposted by Victor Matheson

Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Oil up by $12 a barrel in less than 12 hours. Gas prices skyrocketing. Almost 100,000 jobs lost last month. Another war in the Middle East. Are we great again yet?

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Trump said he would “solve all of the problems in the room.” The only reason that is even remotely possible is that there were no actual college athletes in the room. A lot easier to “solve” a labor-management dispute when labor isn’t in the room. www.espn.com/college-spor...

espn.com

Trump plans executive order to address college sports issues

President Donald Trump on Friday said he will write an executive order within a week that will "solve all of the problems" brought forth in an unprecedented meeting at the White House to address the f...

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

In Ireland with a group of 50 Holy Cross students. A particular circumstance led to a “USA! USA!” chant starting which immediately died out and after a few confused seconds restarted with a “Worcester! Worcester!” chant.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

And in related news, I am now estimating that every World Cup match has an economic impact of $1.9 gagillion dollars.

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Just got back from a vacation in Tanzania. Completely amazing. Like I think I have seen dairy farms that had lower concentrations of large animals than the Serengeti. (Now if I could only get Toto's "Africa" out of my brain, I could get some work done!)

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Victor Matheson @victor-matheson.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

If only there were only anything we could do with tax policy that would reduce the number of people retiring with 12 homes, but I just can't think of anything that might work! www.comicsands.com/bessent-reti...

comicsands.com

Treasury Secretary Blasted Over Out-Of-Touch Remark About How Many Homes People Buy For Retirement

What planet is he living on?

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