Articles in this issue:

• What Does It Mean to Be “Competitive”? Using Simulation to Reveal Competitive Balance in English Association Football

  Matthew Hood and R. Todd Jewell

  This paper illustrates the value of using betting data to simulate an ex-ante distribution of league-point outcomes for English professional association football. Competition in the three tiers of the English Football League (EFL) is much more balanced than in the English Premier League (EPL). The competition at the top of the tables is more concentrated than at the bottom of the tables. Clubs relegated into a lower league tend to perform well the next season. Still, this effect does not seem to be impacted by parachute payments given to those relegated from the EPL into the second...Read more

• Effects of COVID-19 on Football Stock Market’s Return and Uncertainty

  Fatih Bedir

  Gürkan Bozma

  Murat Turan

  and Orcan Mızrak

  The cancellation of mass gatherings was one of the earliest measures implemented to combat the spread of COVID-19. One of the sectors affected by this situation was sports organizations. The study aimed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the returns and volatility of football club stocks using mean and variance estimates. In line with this aim, the Stoxx Football Index was used to estimate the stocks of football clubs, and a dummy variable was used to estimate the effect of COVID-19. According to the analyses, it was found that COVID-19 had a negative and statistically significant impact...Read more

• General Admission Alcohol Availability at American College Football Bowl Subdivision Stadiums: A Difference-in-Difference with Timing Variation Analysis of Football Program Concession Revenues and Ticket Sales

  Stacey L. Brook

  The percentage of universities selling alcohol to legally aged general admission spectators at football bowl subdivision stadiums increased by nearly 150% from 2012 to 2018. Previous research examines the effect of alcohol availability on revenue using a pro forma case study for one university. The literature is extended by systematically analyzing public college football program concession and ticket revenues using data from the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System covering the 2012 to 2018 seasons. Using a differential timing difference-in-difference methodology, universities...Read more

• The Silence of the Fans: The Impact of Restricted Crowds on the Margin of Victory in the NBA

  Henry Steinfeldt

  Sören Dallmeyer

  and Christoph Breuer

  This study investigates the impact of restricted crowds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the margin of victory of games in the NBA. Using 12,500 game-level observations from 11 NBA seasons from 2010/11 to 2020/21, the study first shows that during the COVID-19 season of 2020/21, games had a greater average margin of victory than any of the prior seasons. Regression results reveal that games played in front of restricted crowds were more likely to be won by a margin of 15, 20, or 25 points than games played in front of non-restricted crowds. The results indicate similar effects for games...Read more