Articles in this issue:

• Competitive Balance: Results of a Natural Experiment from Rugby Union

  Vincent Hogan and Patrick Massey

  We present evidence on the impact of revenue sharing and salary caps on both short- and long-run competitive balance based on a form of unique natural experiment—the abolition of Rugby Union’s ban on professionalism and the different responses of the English (EPR) and French (T14) leagues to its removal. The EPR has operated revenue sharing and a binding salary cap for most of the professional era, but the T14 only introduced a non-binding salary cap much more recently. We use a dataset of net winning margins from 9,438 matches in both leagues over 27 seasons from 1987/88 to 2015/16 to...Read more

• Drafting a Successful Wide Receiver in the NFL—Hail Mary?

  Aju J Fenn and David Berri

  This paper examines the efficacy of the NFL draft in selecting successful wide receivers that go on to be successful in the league. We identify variables that are significant determinants of draft day selection and investigate if those same variables explain productivity in the NFL.Read more

• Determinants of Performance in eSports: A Country-Level Analysis

  Petr Parshakov and Marina Zavertiaeva

  This study provides readers with new information about key drivers of performance in the emerging area of eSports. Competitive computer gaming (eSports) is becoming increasingly popular, and the number of gamers and amount of prize money is growing. We therefore explore some key country-level characteristics that may contribute to players’ success, measured as money won. We use gamers’ prize earnings aggregated by country and a hurdle model to understand the determinants of performance. The results show that a 1% increase in GDP per capita leads to a 2.2% increase in prize money per capita...Read more

• Provincial Consumer Preferences and Fragmented Sport Governance: Demand for Professional Boxing in Germany

  Henk Erik Meier

  Mara Konjer

  Stephan Stroth

  Research presented here aims to contribute to the literature on demand for individual sports and its implications for industry structure. It is argued that “provincial” preferences, that is, a dominant interest in national identification or local stars, might account for the persistence of fragmented governance of boxing. The analyses of a unique dataset on professional free-to-air boxing telecasts in Germany defy the idea that preferences for national idols and local stars are dominant motives for German sports audiences. Local stardom certainly plays an important role, but a strong...Read more

• Order Effect Under the “Away-Goals Rule:” Evidence from CONMEBOL Competitions

  Carlos Varela-Quintana

  Julio del Corral

  Juan Prieto-Rodriguez

  This paper tests for the existence of an order effect in competitive situations using the natural experiment of the introduction of the “away-goals rule” in CONMEBOL club competitions. This rule states that in a case of a two-legged fixture finishing level on goals, the team that scores more goals as a visitor will qualify for the next round. Fixed-effects logit analyses for the period 1988-2014 provide evidence that, after the application of the rule in 2005, teams that played the second leg as visitors had an increased probability of winning in regulation time. This phenomenon was...Read more