| By: |
Luc Arrondel (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement);
Richard Duhautois (CEET - Centre d'études de l'emploi et du travail - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé, LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]) |
| Abstract: |
The idea that competitive balance increases the utility of fans, and therefore
their spending and the revenue of professional clubs, lies at the heart of
sports economics in general and the economics of football in particular. This
notion of competitive balance is often invoked to explain the decisions of
professional leagues to change the rules of competitions or the distribution
of TV rights. However, the empirical literature shows that the relationship
between competitive balance and fan demand is far from obvious. In this paper,
we examine the idea of competitive balance as perceived by football fans. In
the case of Ligue 1, it is mainly explained by medium-and long-term
uncertainty, while in the case of the Champions League it is more a matter of
long-term suspense. But uncertainty over the outcome is far from being the
only factor explaining the demand for football since around 30% of fans report
that they would always be willing to attend or watch games even in the
hypothetical case that there is no suspense left. JEL Classification: D12, L83 |
| Keywords: |
uncertainty of outcome hypothesis,competitive balance,demand for football |
| Date: |
2020–04–17 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-02870529&r=all |