FiT Publishing

Several determinants of player values like productivity and human capital have been investigated in previous research; however, the influence of individual effort has been neglected. This study assumes that effort could be a signaling device and analyzes the effect of effort on market values of soccer players. Secondary data on player statistics and market values from the 2011/2012 season and the first half of the 2012/2013 season of the German Bundesliga were collected (n=877). Technical innovations that record routes and running distances in soccer allow using total running distance and...Read more

The recent transfers of Christiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, and of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaká) from Associazione Calcio Milan to Real Madrid—as well as the increasing financial problems of many of the top teams in the big five European leagues—have again increased the public’s attention for the global football players’ labor market. Therefore, the paper addresses two important, and highly contested, issues: player remuneration and contract duration (players are usually considered as overpaid and poorly motivated. Using two different unbalanced panels from the German...Read more

Monopolization of broadcast rights for collective sales is a widespread practice in sports leagues. Proponents of this system claim that it is a necessary tool for the maintenance of competitive balance (tension) in sports. In this empirical paper, I argue that, in European soccer, collective sales do not increase competitive balance as compared to individual sales. Further, I demonstrate the negative effect of the UEFA Champions League and the beneficial effect of a more equal distribution of drawing power and a larger domestic market size on competitive balance. These results shed new...Read more

This paper investigates the statistical relationship between European regional development and the competitiveness of professional soccer teams. Using data on more than 140 European regions (NUT2) from the period 1990–2006, it concludes that professional soccer teams are more likely to show superior performance if their head offices are located in population-dense regions that have a high GDP and in highly urbanized areas.Read more

This paper examines the relationship between the demand for English football on television and outcome uncertainty. It tests the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis by using minute-by-minute television viewership figures which avoids the problems encountered when estimating demand using match attendance. We find that although uncertainty matters, it is the progression of the match which drives viewership and as a draw looks increasingly likely, viewers are likely to switch channels. Games that end in victories have a higher average viewership than games that end in stalemates.Read more

This paper shows the current financial situation of Spanish professional football. Different financial ratios are used in order to classify the financial position of the different teams. The study has been split between clubs in First or Second division. We also analyze the relationships between the size of market, team payrolls, and team performance. We demonstrate the financial problems created by the arms race that clubs have started for getting the most talented players for trying to get the best possible sporting outcome. The new Spanish Law for companies in financial distress has...Read more

The revenues of professional football clubs in Europe have increased enormously over the last decades. The big five European leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) in 2007-08 generated revenues of almost €10 billion, of which €3 billion have to be attributed to the English Premier League and €1.8 billion each to the Spanish “La Liga,” the Italian “Serie A,” and the German “Bundesliga.”Read more

UEFA is the sports governing body for football (soccer) in Europe with 53 national associations as members of a democratic organization. UEFA is also the most important member of FIFA, which is the international governing body for football. UEFA organizes all European Championships and Youth Championships, as well as two trans-European playoffs every year between the best teams from the national leagues. The better teams from the 53 national leagues are, with some playoffs for the positions, playing in these two leagues. And the better the teams from a national league are performing, the...Read more

In January 2007, Major League Soccer (MLS) announced that international soccer sensation David Beckham would be joining the league playing for the LA Galaxy. This paper examines Beckham¡¯s effect on MLS ticket sales for the 2007 season. Depending on specification, our results indicate that Beckham increased ticket sales as a share of stadium capacity by about 55 percentage points. We then use these results to evaluate MLS¡¯s Designated Player Rule and to perform a back-of-the-envelope calculation of Beckham¡¯s benefit to the LA Galaxy.Read more

The purpose of this study was to assess brand equity in professional soccer teams. Through a preliminary analysis and further adaptation of the Spectator-Based Brand Equity (SBBE) scale, a refined model was tested among soccer fans. Results gathered from a confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable fit of the model to the data and confirmed the relationship between Internalization, a single first-order construct, and Brand Associations, a second-order construct with ten dimensions. Review of the psychometric properties indicated all constructs had good internal consistency,...Read more