Victor Matheson

Victor Matheson, professor of economics at Holy Cross, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and his B.A. from St. Olaf College.
Matheson specializes in sports economics, specifically the economic impact of “mega-sporting events” on host cities; public finance; the economics of lotteries and gambling; and natural resource economics. In particular, his sports economics research, which dispels the notion that major events (such as the Olympics, World Series and Super Bowl) and new sports infrastructure (such as stadiums or arenas) provide large economic dividends for host cities have made him a widely sought-after expert.
He has provided expert commentary to dozens of media outlets including The New York Times, National Public Radio, The Boston Globe, ESPN, the Associated Press, CBS Evening News, American Public Media’s Marketplace, CNN, and MSNBC.com, among others. Matheson is the author of over 80 scholarly articles or book chapters on a wide variety of topics. During Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, he published an op-ed in The Chicago Tribune titled “Bid’s rejection could be for the best,” and The New York Times republished his earlier op-ed about New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games, titled “Luck of the Draw.” During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com published his economic analysis of the country’s new soccer stadiums.