BENITO LOPEZ. Analysis on employment in the Charlotte metro area before and after the opening of the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. (Under the direction ofDR. CRAIG DEPKEN II)This paper uses nonfarm employment data from the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA and the Raleigh-Cary NC MSA to measure the treatment effect on employment after the opening of Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte’s center city district in 2005. Additionally, we measure the treatment effect on employment after the departure of the Charlotte Hornets NBA basketball team following the 2002 NBA season. The results show that opening new the arena in the center city district of Charlotte, North Carolina is associated with a positive effect on employment, and that not having an NBA basketball team (from 2002 to 2004) is also associated with a positive effect on employment. The results indicate that the positive effect on employment after the opening of Charlotte Bobcats Arena is not the result of Charlotte hosting an NBA expansion team the previous year, because the analysis shows that losing an NBA basketball team (not gaining one) is associated with a positive treatment effect on employment.