(Left to right): Nathan Kociela and Jackson White
The Department of Finance and Economics is pleased to recognize two economics majors who shared the results of their research completed as part of the econometrics course sequence in economics at the 2026 Pennsylvania Sports Business Conference. This conference was held at the Hadley Union Building on IUP’s Indiana campus on Friday, April 17. The conference featured presentations from various individuals involved across the sports industry.
Nate Kociela (BA, economics/honors) and Jackson White (BA, political science and economics/honors double major) were announced as the corecipients of the 2026 Research Award at the PSBC. According to its web page, the Pennsylvania Sports Business Conference Research Award recognizes students for “their contributions to furthering the industry through research” on the basis of the quality of the research and the relevance of the topic.
Their research paper, “The Attendance Curveball: Examining What Drives Fans to MLB Ballparks,” investigates the determinants of attendance at Major League Baseball games with a panel dataset of all 30 teams over 10 seasons, from 2010 to 2019. The study employs ordinary least squares regression to assess how on-field performance, team success, and regional economic factors influence attendance. Independent variables used include World Series wins, area population, real household income per capita, number of All-Stars, and games won, among others. Results suggest that wins, the Fan Cost Index, winning percentage in the prior season, and the unemployment rate positively influence average attendance, while income appears to have a negative impact.
According to Kociela, “The conference was a great opportunity to interact with people from all over the sports management industry and showcase our research alongside some phenomenal poster presentations.”
White goes on to say, “It was a great opportunity to represent the Department of Finance and Economics at the Pennsylvania Sports Business Conference and present our econometric research on a topic rooted in our shared passion for Major League Baseball. What I appreciate about the econometrics courses at IUP is the freedom and flexibility to pursue a research topic that aligns with our personal interests and apply economic theory to real-world scenarios. Presenting at the PSBC further reinforced how rewarding it is to combine academic research with personal interests. One conference highlight was hearing from the sports and management professionals, many of whom are IUP alumni, and learning about their career experiences. It was neat to see firsthand the impact that an IUP education can have on professional growth and sustained career success. I am especially grateful to Dr. Jim Jozefowicz for encouraging us to present and for his mentorship during the research and presentation process.”
In addition to this PSBC Research Award recognition, Kociela and White received the IUP Libraries’ Undergraduate Research Award as part of the 2026 IUP Scholars Forum.