Exuberance out of left field: Do sports results cause investors to take their eyes off the ball?

This study investigates whether stock price performance contains a sizeable component that emanates from local sports sentiment. We measure sports sentiment by the performance of sports teams from the four major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) that are based nearby firms' headquarters. We find that concurrent stock returns and sports performances associated with the same locality are highly correlated. Consistent with the notion that mispricing is indeed caused by sports sentiment, we also determine that sentiment is related to a subsequent gradual return reversal, which occurs over the following three year period. In addition, we confirm that local comovement is more pronounced in the presence of sports sentiment in support of the view that local stock preference of relatively less sophisticated retail investors can be driven by factors that are not information-based. Finally, we devise investment strategies based on recent past observations of sports sentiment and find that they generate sizable abnormal returns, especially in cases of firms located in areas where fan base support appears to be stronger.