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on Sports and Economics |
| By: | Wladimir Andreff; Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The Tour de France is one of the world's largest annual sport events. Although cycling races are usually not lucrative, the Tour de France organizer's balance sheet reveals that the Tour has been profitable since the 1980s. How can this economic success story be explained? Most sport economists are used to turn to tournament theory and a contest's competitive balance and outcome uncertainty as major reasons for success. However, fans of the Tour de France are seldom surprised by the name of the final winner of the race, usually not even by the riders sharing the podium. Thus, explaining the Tour's success by competitive balance must be checked carefully. Following the introduction, this chapter shows how the Tour de France has been a successful managerial and economic model: it is a well-designed and well-managed sport event, with a modern financing model which is founded on TV broadcasting rights, like other mega-sport events. Fundamentally, the quality of the show of the Tour seems well explained by tournament theory. However, if one focuses on competitive balance, it appears that the success of the Tour is likely not due to a high competitive balance, but instead holds in spite of static and dynamic competitive imbalance. The conclusion stresses that the increasing economic success of the Tour since the 1980s is likely not caused by more competitive racing, but instead by a better broadcasting of the event. |
| Keywords: | Tour de France |
| Date: | 2022–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03909038&r=spo |
| By: | Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Why did cycling become professional as early as the nineteenth century while other sports (such as rugby) and other sport events (such as the Olympic Games) remained amateur until the 1980s? Why are the organizers of the most important bicycle races private companies while in other sports such as soccer the main event organizer is a nonprofit organization? To what extent have bicycle races changed since the nineteenth century? The history of professional road cycling helps answer these and many related questions. Following the introduction, this chapter provides a historical account on the development of professional road cycling, from local races to global sport events; discusses a century of Grand Tours, which have long been epic races stirring up national passions; and details the current organizational structure of professional road cycling. The conclusion draws attention to the fact that cycling reflects long-term economic changes. The chapter is founded on both an analysis of quantitative time series on the Grand Tours and a review of the existing literature on the history of professional cycling. |
| Keywords: | Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Monuments of cycling, International Cycling Union |
| Date: | 2022–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03909034&r=spo |
| By: | Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Why is there strategy, not just brute force, in cycling competitions? What are the recurring strategic interactions amongst riders? And what can economists learn from riders' behaviors? Cycling may be one of the most strategically interesting sports, hence its nickname "chess on wheels." Professional riders' performances crucially depend on their interactions with other riders, which may not be the case in some athletics, swimming, or skiing events. Most interactions between riders are not pure confrontation, zero-sum games, as is the case in boxing, fencing, martial arts, or tennis. In cycling, two rival riders may lawfully ally against some third rider, while such three-player interactions do not exist in football, basketball, or soccer. And cycling being an individual sport run amongst teams, it opens up opportunities of strategic behavior both within and between teams. This chapter provides an overview on the main reasons why bicycle races are strategic, and it then presents several game theory analyses of strategic interactions between riders: attack timing strategy, cooperation and noncooperation in breakaways and in the peloton, sprint strategy, and three-player interactions. It is founded on examples of strategic interactions between riders that occurred in the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a España, and other races |
| Keywords: | Game theory, Strategy, Free riding, Attack, Breakaway |
| Date: | 2022–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03909042&r=spo |
| By: | Gilles Paché (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon) |
| Abstract: | Les supporters réunis dans un stade afin de soutenir ardemment leur équipe de football professionnel favorite ignorent très certainement l'influence majeure de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) dans le choix des joueurs, voire dans la tactique de jeu définie par l'entraîneur. On peut parler d'une véritable révolution à bas bruit dans une industrie du divertissement dont on connaît les énormes enjeux financiers, politiques et sociétaux. L'article aborde un aspect singulier de l'usage de l'IA dans l'univers du football professionnel à partir du partenariat conclu en 2023 entre une ligue professionnelle et une start-up de haute technologie : l'élargissement majeur du « vivier » des talents, à savoir l'identification de jeunes footballeurs qui passent à travers les mailles du filet de la détection « traditionnelle », puis leur gestion une fois recrutés par les clubs. Il s'agit incontestablement d'une thématique de première importance, proche de problématiques « ressources humaines », qui ne peut laisser indifférents les chercheuses et chercheurs en sciences du management. |
| Keywords: | ChatGPT, Décision, Football, Intelligence artificielle, Recrutement |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04341942&r=spo |