Victor Matheson

Victor Matheson is a professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, where he has taught since 2004, with a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota. He edits the Journal of Sports Economics, has led the North American Association of Sports Economists, and co-authored The Economics of Sports.

He has studied stadium financing for over two decades, publishing on the economic impact of stadiums, Super Bowls, and the Olympics, and is a frequent media expert on whether public subsidies for professional sports facilities pay off. He teaches his students the Matheson Rule: move the decimal point one place left to find the true benefits of a mega-event.

He is also a working soccer referee in the NCAA and beyond, and has officiated at the professional level. His consulting pushback helped shrink a $1.35 billion taxpayer ask for a new Washington arena into a far smaller refurbishment — the kind of fight he has picked for twenty years.